Miami, Florida, issued $271.4 million in bonds to finance the construction of a new administrative building and the city’s implementation of new cloud software.
The city sold the bonds in two series. The tax-exempt Series 2023A bonds, consisting of $241.2 million, mature between 2025 and 2053, yielding between 3.35% and 4.65%. The taxable Series 2023B bonds, consisting of $30.2 million, mature 2029 and 2033, yielding between 5.345% and 5.534%. The securities received a rating of AA from S&P Global Ratings and Aa2 from Moody’s Investors Service, which assigned a stable outlook.
“The outlook reflects the likelihood that the city’s credit profile will remain stable over the next several years, because of strong economic growth which supports cash and reserve balance growth in line with budgetary growth,” Moody’s analysts wrote.
Miami has been looking for a place to relocate its municipal headquarters for almost a decade. The search concluded last year, when the city selected a former golf course near Miami International Airport. In 2015, the city declared its current administrative building, which is in Downtown Miami, “functionally obsolete.”
The bond proceeds will finance the construction of those new headquarters. The proceeds will also finance the city’s adoption of the Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning Cloud System.
The bonds are special obligations of Miami, backed by the city’s covenant to budget and appropriate revenue that does not come from property taxes.
Jefferies LLC served as lead underwriter on the issuance, purchasing the bonds for $282.5 million.