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MARLINS STADIUM
Wall St. endorses ballpark bonds
Rating agencies expressed approval for financing to build a new baseball stadium in Miami -- a vital endorsement the county will now take to the market.

BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN
MHAGGMAN@MIAMIHERALD.COM

Since local government agreed in March to build a Little Havana baseball stadium for the Florida Marlins, the key unresolved issue centered on whether Miami-Dade County can borrow the money to pay for the bulk of the $515 million ballpark.

On Tuesday, the answer became clearer: All three Wall Street credit rating agencies announced favorable assessments of the county's plan to sell more than $300 million in bonds -- which will be repaid with tourist taxes -- before groundbreaking on the former Orange Bowl site in July.

The bonds received ratings ranging from "A+" from Standard & Poor's to an "A" grade from Fitch Ratings and "A2" from Moody's Investor Services.

All of the ratings put the bonds in the middle of the pack for investment-grade bonds.

"That should be enough to get it done," said Leo Guzman, president of securities firm Guzman & Co. in Coral Gables. "The county should be pleased."

Amid a searing recession, questions have swirled over whether the county would be able to sell the bonds at acceptable terms amid credit markets that are still thawing while tourist revenue plummets.

Prior to selling the bonds to investors, ratings agencies weigh in and grade the offerings.

In a two-page report, Fitch Ratings concluded that Miami-Dade's stadium financing plan will provide "satisfactory coverage" to meet debts owed annually to bondholders. The agency added that "the medium- to long-term prospects for the county's tourism sector are sound and expects tourism-related revenues to stabilize in the next several years."

MORE CAUTIOUS

The Moody's report reached a similar conclusion but was more cautionary in tone. It called the estimates of future tourist taxes "somewhat optimistic."

Standard & Poor's hasn't issued a report, but its rating was outlined in a memo issued late Tuesday by County Manager George Burgess.

"These ratings are a favorable step in the right direction," said Carter Hammer, Miami-Dade finance director.

The county plans to sell $391 million in bonds on June 9 and 10 to raise money for the 37,000-seat retractable roof ballpark and to refinance existing debts.

County leaders are racing to meet a July 1 deadline, after which none of the parties to the ballpark agreement -- the county, city of Miami or the Marlins -- can back out.

TOTAL COST

The entire ballpark deal is expected to cost $645 million to pay for the stadium, construct parking garages and add infrastructure. The facility is scheduled to open in 2012.

Meanwhile, in a memo to commissioners, Burgess said the county is still seeking to ensure the bond deal. But, as it related to the bond ratings, he wrote: "We are pleased with the results obtained."

Later this summer the county intends to sell $50 million in general obligation bonds, which will also go toward the stadium.