Calaveras County: DLR has closed on two land-secured refundings for Saddle Creek, a golf community in the Sierra Nevadas. The Sales and Trading Desk found buyers who understood the developer’s long-term strategy.  •  Palmdale: DLR was sole Senior Manager on federally taxable Certificates of Participation so the city could acquire 600 acres for a 550-megawatt power plant to attract and retain businesses.  •  Chowchilla: DLR senior-managed a special bond for critical infrastructure improvement until development impact fees can be raised to support $93 million in residential, commercial and industrial projects.  •  Pittsburg: DLR was Senior Manager on a tax-allocation bond that raised almost $100 million for housing and other projects, and saved the city’s Redevelopment Agency another $3.5 million by refinancing earlier bonds.  •  Chula Vista: DLR senior-managed a tax-allocation bond after Chula Vista demonstrated that the future assessed value of the city’s Bayfront-Town Centre offsets a highly concentrated tax base.  •  Los Angeles: As book-running Senior Manager, DLR structured a $34.5-million pooled financing for the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency without a yield spread to adhere to the CRA policy to complete separation between project areas.  •  DLR senior-managed refunding of all outstanding debt at Ontario Airport, increasing the L.A. Department of Airports’ flexibility to define net revenues and its debt-service reserve fund – and reaffirm its “A” rating.  •  Long Beach: The city recently issued more than $190 million in redevelopment project financing, including $115 million of taxable bonds, in a Marks-Roos pooled issue to fund projects in five areas.  •  From naval base to housing space: Few could envision a new community when the Alameda Point Naval Air Station was decommissioned a decade ago. Today, a highly successful development with 300 homes occupies part of the old base.  •  Riverside County: DLR senior-managed a $25-million Mello-Roos financing to improve street, water, sewer, and other public facilities at Lake Hills Crest, a development with 512 single-family detached units.
 

City of Riverside

$25,820,000
Community Facilities District No. 04-2
Special Tax Bonds

$4,280,000
Community Facilities District No. 89-4
Special Tax Bonds
Community Facilities District No. 04-2
In 2005, De La Rosa & Co. was Senior Manager on a $25-million Mello-Roos financing for Riverside County. The proceeds financed street, water, sewer, flood-control facilities, and other public improvements required to develop five residential neighborhoods with 512 single-family detached units.

Mass grading and infrastructure improvements on Lake Hills Crest were getting underway as the bonds were sold. The project’s start-up nature carried certain risks. The development was owned by a single property owner, and the appraised value-to-lien of the bonds was about 4:1.

De La Rosa was committed to securing the lowest possible rates for the issuer. The firm’s sales force worked with the banking team to build investors’ confidence in the project, organizing several conference calls and visits to the site before the sale. The bonds achieved a 5.01% yield on its 30-year non-rated financing, helping the District meet its funding target.

Community Facilities District No. 89-4
De La Rosa was Senior Manager on a $4.3-million issue for Riverside County in 2005 to defease and refund a 1991 Special Tax Bond. The bonds had gone into default in 2000, after the Communities Facilities District fell behind on tax payments during the 1990s. Foreclosure proceedings were dismissed in 2002, following an agreement between the District and a new property owner appointed by the Superior Court.

The 2005 bonds created a new 25-year debt obligation for the District. De La Rosa helped the County and the new property owner to devise various scenarios to apportion new special taxes while allowing existing owners to maintain special tax payments under the 1991 bonds. The new bonds were secured by District properties.

The 2005 bonds produced about 10% in NPV savings. The aggressive interest rates that De La Rosa achieved for Riverside County will mean lower overall tax payments for new and existing owners.
Back to Success Stories