Fitch Rates Toledo-Lucas County Port Auth, Ohio $13.6MM Special Assessment Bonds 'A'.CHICAGO -- Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings An international rating agency for financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporate, sovereign, and municipal debt. Fitch Ratings has headquarters in New York and London and is wholly owned by FIMALAC of Paris. has assigned an 'A' rating to the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority is a port authority financing and/or operating air, rail, trucking, and port facilities, as well as supporting and funding economic development activities in Lucas County, located in northwest Ohio and bordering on southeast Michigan. , Ohio's $13,610,000 special assessment revenue bonds, series 2006 (Town Square at Levis Commons Special Assessment Project). The Rating Outlook is Stable. The bonds are scheduled to price during the week of Nov. 13, through Robert W. Baird Robert Wilson Baird (born April 1, 1883) helped found the financial services firm that bears his name and led it for more than 40 years. Baird’s father was a professor of Greek literature at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where Baird grew up. & Co. Proceeds will finance off-street surface parking and street improvements, capitalized interest Capitalized interest Interest that is not immediately expensed, but rather is considered as an asset and is then amortized through the income statement over time. In the context of project financing, interest that is paid by additional borrowing. through Nov. 1, 2009 and fund a 10% debt reserve. The 'A' rating is based on the security of special assessment payments which are on parity with real estate taxes and have a superior claim to property mortgages and other financial obligations, a high level of property value to assessment lien, the availability of a credit facility to effect a call of outstanding bonds if the project is not completed, and the responsibility of the developer to bear project cost overruns. Although most of the properties are uncommitted, the Town Square development complements an adjoining non-assessed development and is part of a rapidly growing suburban area. The bonds are special limited obligations of the issuer, paid from special assessments levied in the Town Square Development by the City of Perrysburg, and include special funds under the indenture. Assessments on the 15-acre development site will be sufficient to cover debt service, administrative expense, project maintenance and trustee expense. Fifth Third Bank will provide a letter of credit equal to $12,249,000 or the amount of the bonds, less the reserve requirement, until project completion (essentially meeting 50% of net leaseable space). With completion of each of the three project phases, the letter of credit will diminish in proportion to each phase's projected appraised value. If the entire Town Square development is not complete by Sept. 1, 2009, the bonds are subject to mandatory redemption in whole or in part by Nov. 1, 2009, unless a temporary credit facility or cash on deposit is available to meet special assessments for the next calendar year. A reserve fund, financed by a letter of credit or other credit facility, will available to meet 1.25 times (x) maximum annual debt service. Levis Town Square Land, LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control , the developer which is affiliated with Dillin Corp., owns 10.1 acres of assessed property within the assessment district. The property is part of a larger 175-acre development site known as J. Preston Levis Commons, which opened its first phase in November 2004 and should be fully developed by late 2008. The development is close to the 53-acre corporate campus of Owens-Illinois Corporation (world's largest manufacturer of glass containers; senior unsecured notes rated 'CCC+' by Fitch). Initial investment in Levis Commons to date has been $97 million and is expected to expand to a $341 million investment by 2008 (i.e., $289 million of non-assessed property; $39 million of private investment in the district; and $13 million in bonds). The development is located in the City of Perrysburg, Ohio, near the intersection of state route 25 and interstate 475. Owens-Illinois originally owned the property as part of its Levis Research and Development Park. Non-assessed parcels in the development include office and retail space and residences. The 53-acre Owens-Illinois headquarters is adjacent to the property and opened in September 2006. The assessment area has three components: a 184-room hotel which is expected to cost at least $15 million; the entertainment complex (the 'Annex') which will have a variety of commercial enterprises and cost $12 million; and the Town Square Retail, costing $12 million and having an ambience similar to the existing Town Center. Thus, the three components will total $39 million, covering the $13.6 million of bonds, including the 10% bond reserve, 2.87x. With the completion of each component, the LOC LOC - lines of code will diminish in value. The Town Square development is located in the City of Perrysburg, within Wood County, Ohio Wood County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of 2000, the population was 121,065. Its county seat is Bowling Green6 and it was named for Captain Eleazer D. . As part of the Toledo metropolitan area The Toledo Metropolitan Area is a metropolitan area centered in the American city of Toledo, Ohio with 656,696 residents and four counties within Northwest Ohio. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the metropolitan area includes the counties of Fulton, Lucas, Ottawa and Wood. , the county has per capita personal income which is 5% greater than the state and 2% less than the national level. Traditionally based in manufacturing, the region's economy has diversified from service industry expansion, particularly in healthcare. Higher education has proved to be an important economic stabilizer and includes the University of Toledo National recognition In its 125-year history UT has garnered several national accolades. The University’s programs, faculty and facilities have been highlighted in the media, including and Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University, at Bowling Green, Ohio; coeducational; chartered 1910 as a normal school, opened 1914. It became a college in 1929, a university in 1935. . Leading employers include ProMedica Health Systems, Mercy Health Partners Mercy Health Partners (MHP) is a health care system with locations throughout northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.[1] Hospitals Six hospitals are owned and operated by MHP: Mercy Hospital of Defiance, Mercy Hospital of Tiffin, Mercy Hospital of , DaimlerChrysler (Jeep Division), General Motor's Powertrain Division, Owens-Illinois Corp., Dana Corp. and Owens Corning. Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site. |
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