DASNY Board Approves Higher Education Financings

Innovative MWBE Surety Bond/Capital Access Program Launched

Albany - - At its monthly meeting here today, the Board of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) approved $326 million in bond financings that will assist institutions of higher education across the state expand and improve their facilities to better provide critical educational opportunities for New Yorkers.

Additionally, in a significant policy development, the Board approved a resolution to launch a pilot DASNY Surety Bond/Capital Access program for minority and women-owned (MWBE) construction contracting companies. The $3 million program is designed to help MWBE contracting firms acquire the surety bonding and working capital needed to enable them to successfully make the transition from subcontractors to prime contractors or to increase their prime contract capacity on construction projects

“This Surety Bond / Capital Access program is an excellent example of how a government agency can innovatively create opportunities for private sector companies to grow, create jobs and generate opportunity,” said Paul T. Williams, Jr., Executive Director of the Dormitory Authority. “The lack of available surety bond capacity for MWBE firms is a major barrier to their development and with this program we are building business skills and access to bonding and capital that will help firms compete successfully for public and private work.”

The Board gave final approval to the following new financings:

Yeshiva University. The Board approved the negotiated sale of fixed-rate, tax-exempt bonds in an amount not to exceed $145 million and for a term not to exceed 30 years. Proceeds from the sale of the bonds are expected to be used for the construction and renovation of the Glueck academic building on the Washington Heights campus, construction and equipping of an information technology center; for refinancing an existing line of credit used to finance numerous projects at the College’s Manhattan and Bronx campuses; for reimbursement of a portion of the costs of acquiring the Price Building; and for refunding of Yeshiva University’s Series 1998 Bonds. Lead Manager is JP Morgan Securities Inc.; Bond Counsel is Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP; Underwriter’s Counsel is Nixon Peabody.

Ithaca College. The Board approved the negotiated sale of one or more series of fixed-rate bonds in an amount not to exceed $41 million to restructure Series 2008 bonds which are letter of credit-backed, variable-rate demand bonds that will be converted to unenhanced obligations with an intermediate term, or a long-term, fixed-rate mode to terminate the existing RBS Citizens NA letter of credit as the primary source of repayment. Lead Manager is RBC Capital Markets; Bond Counsel is Harris Beach PLLC; Underwriter’s Counsel is Nixon Peabody LLP.

University of Rochester. The Board approved the negotiated sale of one or more series of tax-exempt fixed-rate and/or variable-rate bonds in an amount not to exceed $140 million for a term not to exceed 30 years. Proceeds from the sale of the bonds are expected to be used to finance various construction and renovation projects at the University School of Medicine and Dentistry; and to refund University of Rochester Series 1997A, 1998A, 1998B and 2000A bonds. Lead Manager is Barclays Capital; Bond Counsel is Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP; Underwriter’s Counsel is Harris Beach PLLC.

The Board approved the following resolution to proceed with a new financing:

New York University. The Board gave initial approval for the sale of one or more series of tax-exempt, fixed and/or variable-rate bonds in an amount of approximately $469.7 million and for a term not to exceed 40 years. Proceeds from the sale of the bonds are expected to be used to acquire and renovate the 12th Street Dormitory; renovate the Tisch School of Arts studios; renovate the Fairchild Building at 7 East 12th Street; finance the construction for the Center for Genomics and Systems Biology at 12-16 Waverly Place; and to reconstruct and renovate various facilities at the Washington Square campus.

The Board is scheduled to meet next on July 29 in Albany.

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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 716 projects valued at $7.3 billion. The Authority has an outstanding bond portfolio of more than $38 billion.