Plans Coming Together for New, Old City Hall

LAS VEGAS-It appears a new city hall will indeed be built and that existing city hall site will be redeveloped. The City of Las Vegas sold bonds for the new city hall project this week at a 5.26% interest rate as urban redeveloper Cordish Co. is busy studying the possibility of developing a casino, sports arena and other retail on 20 acres that includes the existing city hall property.

City officials had been concerned it would have to pay too high an interest rate on the debt it needed to build the new city hall but its use of Build America Bonds authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act prompted the major ratings agencies to give the city’s lease-purchase financing arrangement their fourth-highest rating. As part of the stimulus package, the federal government pays 35% of the interest expense on the bonds.

The city’s chief redevelopment officer Scott Adams tells GlobeSt.com that the bonds were underwritten by Stone & Youngblood LLC, as representative for itself and Citigroup Global Markets Inc., and Siebert Bradford Shank & Co. LLC. The group purchased $174.5 million of Build America Bonds and $13.77 million in City of Las Vegas Tax Exempt Certificates of Participation, according to city documents.