The Power of San Diego's Waterfront

$109,985,000
Tax Allocation Bonds

In 1992, the City of San Diego's Redevelopment Agency was given a green light to eliminate blight in downtown San Diego. Armed with the slogan "Never underestimate the power of the waterfront," the Agency and Centre City Development Corp. (CCDC) has redeveloped, rehabilitated and revitalized the urban core during the past 12 years.

De La Rosa & Co. recently helped the Redevelopment Agency and CCDC with a $110-million financing, including $76 million of non-housing and $33 million of taxable housing bonds. Our bankers and sales team helped obtain the lowest borrowing cost, reviewed documents, suggested ways to enhance the structure, and participated in the due diligence process.

This was the first public offering of "San Diego paper" following a well-publicized period of financial challenges. An ongoing investigation into the city's 2002 financial statements wasn't complete and the Agency's audited financials for the previous three fiscal years weren't available. De La Rosa helped the CCDC draft a Preliminary Official Statement that presented financial disclosure about the CCDC and San Diego with integrity. We also made sure the POS clearly explained that the Agency and city were separate credits, and that Agency revenues would not be impaired by financial events that could affect San Diego. Against that backdrop, investors received this credit with enthusiasm and the city was able to obtain very low interest rates.

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