DevelopOhio

The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority and the Dayton/Montgomery County Port Authority recently announced that Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Ratings Services “has assigned its ‘BBB+’ rating to the Southwest Ohio Regional Bond Fund [SWORBF] series 2016A development revenue bonds,” according to a joint press release. The Dayton/Montgomery Port Authority will use about $3.8 million in bond proceeds “to finance energy efficiency improvements for Delco Lofts Project, a renovation of the historic six-story Delco building . . . into 130 loft apartment units with parking and first floor retail.” Joe Geraghty, Chair of the port authority, said, “S&P’s rating of the Southwest Ohio Regional Bond Fund is good news for our region, resulting from sound financial policies of our Port Authorities, strengthened by our collaboration. This rating is new and furthers the benefits to Cincinnati and Dayton are building owners and developers.” The bond fund “can lower borrowing costs” for green energy and modernizing improvements. In the press release, Dayton Port President Jerry Brunswick said the bonds “will be repaid via a voluntary real estate assessment known as PACE, Property Assessed Clean Energy. The PACE mechanism, funded by a bond fund issuance, can be a powerful tool in adaptive re-use projects, such as Delco.” Bricker attorneys served as counsel in connection with the formation of the SWORBF and have served as bond counsel for the SWORBF’s PACE transactions. For more on PACE financing, see Bricker & Eckler’s Energy SIDs & PACE Financing Resource Center.