Attorneys from Greenberg Traurig, LLP’s Atlanta-based Public Finance & Infrastructure Practice served as co-disclosure counsel for the City of Atlanta’s $410 million general obligation bond financing, which was recognized as The Bond Buyer’s 2023 Deal of the Year, Southeast Region.
The purpose of the bond offering was to fund of a portion of the city’s innovative Moving Atlanta Forward infrastructure package, which was approved by voters in 2022 and includes more than 100 infrastructure projects. A portion of this financing – $369 million – marks the city’s first issuance of “social bonds” to fund projects such as improving transportation, public safety, parks, and expanding art programs that can deliver substantial benefits to residents in neighborhoods across the city.
“This is a significant bond offering by the City of Atlanta because it follows through on an initiative voters approved last year to improve the city’s infrastructure across its many neighborhoods. It also demonstrates our firm’s ongoing commitment to make the city of Atlanta a more sustainable place to live and work,” said Greenberg Traurig Co-President Ernest LaMont Greer and Atlanta office Managing Shareholder Theodore I. Blum. “This deal provides an innovative financing structure with a purpose, which can serve as an example for funding infrastructure projects nationwide.”
Now in its 22nd year, The Bond Buyer Deal of the Year award recognizes “outstanding achievement in municipal finance,” according to its website. The publication’s editorial board determines recipients based on the deal’s creativity, public purpose, and ability to serve as a model for other financings.
The Greenberg Traurig team was led by Public Finance & Infrastructure Practice Shareholders Melissa López Rogers, based in Atlanta and Orlando, and Jéan E. Wilson, based in Orlando, and included Associate Zachary W. Branson. Attorneys from Riddle & Schwartz, LLC of Atlanta also served as co-disclosure counsel for the city in this transaction.
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