DASNY Board Approves Health Care & Higher Ed Financings

Albany - - At its monthly meeting here today, the Board of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) approved bond financings and health care facility equipment lease-purchase transactions valued at $776 million. These financings will benefit mental health programs, higher education institutions, and health care facilities and will help them continue providing high-quality services to New Yorkers.

The Board gave final approval to the following new financings:

NYSARC, Inc. The Board approved the negotiated sale of one or more series of fixed-rate, tax-exempt and/or taxable bonds with terms not to exceed 30 years in an amount of approximately $54.6 million. Proceeds from sale of the bonds are expected to be used to finance various new money projects for participating NYSARC chapters and to refinance taxable indebtedness for participating chapters. Lead Manager is KeyBanc Capital Markets; Bond Counsel is Hiscock & Barclay LLP; Underwriter’s Counsel is Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP.

Samaritan Medical Center (Watertown). The Board approved the negotiated sale of two or more series of 27-year variable-rate, tax-exempt bonds in an amount not to exceed $62 million. Proceeds from sale of the bonds are expected to be used to finance a new patient tower and parking garage and to refinance the medical center’s 1998 New York State Housing Finance Agency debt. Lead Manager is KeyBanc Capital Markets; Bond Counsel is Harris Beach PLLC; Underwriter’s Counsel is Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC.

State/Voluntary Agency Mental Hygiene Projects. The Board approved the negotiated sale of tax-exempt and/or taxable fixed and/or variable rate bonds for terms not to exceed 30 years in an amount not to exceed $465 million. Proceeds from sale of the bonds are expected to be used to fund capital projects at state mental health facilities and at voluntary agency facilities.

The Board approved the following resolutions to proceed with new financings:

Nassau County Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). The Board approved the sale of tax-exempt, fixed-rate bonds for terms not to exceed 20 years in an amount not to exceed $21 million. Proceeds from sale of the bonds are expected to be used to purchase a building at One Merrick Avenue that the BOCES currently leases.

New York Law School. The Board approved the negotiated sale of one or more series of fixed and/or variable rate tax-exempt bonds for a term not to exceed 30 years in an amount not to exceed $45 million. Proceeds from sale of the bonds are expected to be used to construct Phase II of the law school’s new academic building.

Yeshiva University. The Board approved the negotiated sale of fixed-rate, tax-exempt bonds for a term not to exceed 30 years in an amount not to exceed $125 million. Proceeds from sale of the bonds are expected to be used to finance the construction and renovation of the Glueck academic building on the Washington Heights campus; for the construction and equipping of an information technology center; and for the refinancing of a line of credit used to finance numerous projects on the college’s Manhattan and Bronx campuses and reimbursement of a portion of the costs of acquiring the Price Building.

The Board approved the following Tax-Exempt Equipment Leasing Program (TELP) resolution:

The New York and Presbyterian Hospital. The Board approved a lease-financing transaction of $4.37 million that will enable the hospital to acquire numerous monitors and telemetry equipment in connection with a system-wide replenishing and updating of health care technology. Equipment acquired through lease-sublease financing under the Authority’s TELP program will be owned by the medical center after all outstanding lease payments are made.

The Board is scheduled to meet next on April 29 in New York City.

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The Dormitory Authority, founded in 1944, is the largest higher education, health care and public-purpose bonding and construction authority in the nation. The Dormitory Authority has a construction pipeline of 730 projects valued at $7.4 billion. The Authority has an outstanding bond portfolio of more than $37.7 billion.