The process to develop and finance Atlanta's BeltLine, a proposed 22-mile loop of transit, green space and mixed-use development, has not been an easy one. But in December, lawyers from three Atlanta firms—Hunton & Williams, Greenberg Traurig and Murray Barnes Finister—worked on various aspects of the deal that resulted in a $78.1 million bond issuance that refinances some of the BeltLine's debt on more favorable terms.

Douglass P. Selby, a Hunton & Williams municipal finance partner, represented the city of Atlanta and Atlanta BeltLine Inc. in the reissuance of $64.5 million in Series 2008 BeltLine tax-exempt tax allocation district (TAD) bonds, which were remarketed to new investors. Selby also worked on the issuance of about $13.6 million in new TAD bonds.

The transaction, said Selby, refinances a private placement done in October 2008—right around the time Lehman Brothers collapsed—when credit markets were anything but favorable.

“It was the worst of all possible times,” said Selby. But, he explained, the BeltLine needed the money to acquire what's known as the Northeast corridor property, 4.5-mile section of the proposed BeltLine that was purchased from Gwinnett developer Wayne Mason. “SunTrust and Wachovia were kind enough to extend credit during that time,” Selby said. “The 2008 structure was always meant to be a temporary sort of placeholder.”

Now that credit markets have recovered a bit, he said, the BeltLine was able to reissue the bonds “without the burdensome call features that the 2008 financing had attendant to it … . The 2008 holders could put their bonds, requiring the city to refinance them. The new financing is more traditional long-term financing,” he said.

The new debt, which has an average yield of about 7.5 percent, matures in 2031, he said. Nine investors purchased the new issuance, which Selby said was oversubscribed.

“It was a very good sign, the fact that there were more buyers interested in buying the paper than there were bonds,” he said. He also said that the BeltLine project likely will go back to market later this year with an issue for new money purposes that will include city, county and school board increments.

Selby said his team, which also included tax partner William H. McBride in the firm's Raleigh, N.C., and Washington offices and Atlanta public finance associate Rachel L. Devenow, began working on the issuance with the leader of the investment banking syndicate, Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) in October. SunTrust and Jackson Securities also were part of the syndicate, which was represented by Teresa P. Finister of Murray Barnes Finister. Kenneth M. Neighbors from Greenberg Traurig served as disclosure counsel to the city. Veronica C. Jones, general counsel of the Atlanta Development Authority, the implementing agency for the BeltLine project, could not be reached for comment by press time.