The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, the agency that manages Lindbergh Field, said it issued $305.3 million in senior specialty facility revenue bonds to finance its planned rental car center.
The bonds are secured by future customer facility charges attached to rental bills from the center now under construction and slated to be completed in January 2016.
The airport authority said the bond issue was the largest stand-alone bond deal backed by car rental fees and the first ever in California. The true interest cost on the bonds, including financing costs, is 5.49 percent.
The bond’s low interest rate was due to the agency’s timing of market entry, and strong credit ratings, the airport authority said. Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s rated the bonds A3, and A-, respectively.
According to the airport authority’s most recent annual report, it has about $1.08 billion in outstanding debt as of June 30. Most of that is related to the airport’s Green Build project that was completed last summer.
