Gonzaga seeks state bonds totaling about $105 million

Journal of Business, May 17, 2007 by Brandler, Emily

Gonzaga University has asked the Washington Higher Education Facilities Authority to issue roughly $105 million in revenue bonds, mostly to restructure some debt, but also to pay for new projects, including the second phase of the Kennedy Apartments complex.

The authority has scheduled a public hearing in Seattle today, May 17, on the request. If the request is approved, the bonds will be issued in three sales, expected to occur in the next two months, says Gonzaga spokesman Dale Goodwin. The authority sells tax-exempt bonds to help nonprofit, independent colleges and universities in Washington finance capital improvement projects.

Roughly $75 million of the bond sale proceeds would be used to refinance series 1998, 2002, 2003, and 2004 bonds issued by the authority to help fund construction projects and equipment for earlier projects at Gonzaga, Goodwin says. Those projects have included Gonzaga's Law School building and McCarthey Athletic Center.

The remaining $30 million would be used to finance or refinance projects that are planned, under way, or have been completed recently, Goodwin says.

In one of those projects, site work has started on the second phase of the Kennedy Apartments, near the southeast corner of Boone Avenue and Ruby Street, and the school expects to complete that roughly $13 million project by fall of 2008, he says. Walker Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor for the project, and ALSC Architects PS, also of Spokane, designed it.

The Kennedy Apartments complex, located at the west end of the school's campus, largely was destroyed by an arson fire in March of 2006, while it was still under construction, and since then has been rebuilt. The second phase of the complex will be located west of the current structure, bordering on Ruby, Goodwin says.

Also, Gonzaga has started work on a 25,000-square-foot Paccar Center for Applied Science, which is being built just south of the Herak School of Engineering, on campus, he says. That $7.5 million to $8 million project is scheduled to be completed by fall 2008.

Other projects expected to be funded with bond proceeds include landscaping and construction of a reflection pool near the entrance to the school's administration building, and construction of parking and other improvements on the west end of campus.

Gonzaga also plans to use part of the $30 million portion of the bond proceeds targeted at projects to refinance a loan used to acquire a building for a new residence hall, and to refinance a loan from Washington Trust Bank used for improvements to Mulligan Field and the $8 million Patterson Baseball Complex, which was completed earlier this year, Goodwin says.