134 High Street Public Hearing
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
ON PROPOSED PROJECT
AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
RELATING THERETO
Notice is hereby given that a public hearing (the "Public Hearing") pursuant to Section 147(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), will be conducted electronically by Buffalo and Erie County Industrial Land Development Corporation (the "Issuer") on Friday, December 10, 2021, at 10:00 o’clock a.m., local time, in connection with the Project (as defined herein). Please note the special public hearing logistics and instructions included at the end of this notice related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
134 High Street, LLC, a New York limited liability company (the "Company"), a wholly owned subsidiary of, and disregarded for federal income tax purposes of, Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc., a New York not-for-profit corporation and an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), which is exempt from federal income taxation pursuant to Section 501(a) of the Code, has submitted an application (the "Application") to the Issuer, a copy of which Application is on file at the office of the Issuer, which Application requests that the Issuer consider undertaking a project (the "Project") for the benefit of the Company, consisting of the issuance of its Tax-Exempt and/or Taxable Revenue Refunding Bonds as qualified 501(c)(3) Bonds under Section 145 of the Code (the “Bonds”) for the purpose of financing, as part of a plan of financing (i) in an aggregate maximum principal amount not to exceed $20,000,000 for the purposes of refinancing of all of the outstanding Buffalo and Erie County Industrial Land Development Corporation Tax-Exempt Revenue Bonds (Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. Project), Series 2010, issued in the original principal amount of $24,050,000 (the "Series 2010 Bonds") and paying allocable costs of issuance and (ii) in an aggregate maximum principal amount not to exceed $400,000 to finance equipment upgrades at the Company’s parking garage located 134 High Street in the City of Buffalo, County of Erie (the “New Equipment”) and paying allocable costs of issuance.
The proceeds of which Series 2010 Bonds were used to finance all or a portion of a certain project (the "Series 2010 Project") consisting of: (i) the acquisition of an interest in an improved parcel of real property located at 134 High Street in the City of Buffalo, County of Erie, ground leased to the Company by Kaleida Health, a New York not-for-profit corporation, and the demolition of certain improvements thereon (collectively, the "Land"); (ii) the construction and/or renovation, expansion, upgrading and equipping of an approximately 675,000 square foot multi-modal transportation structure to house a 2036 vehicle-capacity parking ramp located on the Land (the "Facility"); (iii) the acquisition of and installation in the Facility of various machinery, equipment and furnishings (the “2010 Equipment”); (iv) the financing of all or a portion of the costs of the foregoing by the issuance of the Series 2010 Bonds; and (v) the sale or lease (with an obligation to purchase) of the facilities financed with the Series 2010 Bonds to the Company. The initial legal owner or principal user of the Land, the Facility, the 2010 Equipment and the New Equipment will be the Company.
The Issuer is considering whether (A) to undertake Project, (B) to finance the Project by issuing the Bonds, (C) to use the proceeds of the Bonds to pay the cost of undertaking the Project, together with necessary incidental costs in connection therewith, and (D) to provide certain exemptions from taxation with respect to the Project, including exemption from mortgage recording taxes with respect to any documents, if any, recorded by the Issuer with respect to the Project in the office of the County Clerk of Erie County, New York or elsewhere.
If the issuance of the Bonds is approved, with respect to any portion of the Bonds intended to be issued as federally tax-exempt bonds, the interest on such portion of the Bonds will not be excludable from gross income for federal income tax purposes unless (A) pursuant to Section 147(f) of the Code and the regulations of the United States Treasury Department thereunder, the issuance of the Bonds is approved by the County Executive of Erie County, New York (the "County Executive") after the Issuer has held a public hearing on the nature and location of the Project Facility and the issuance of the Bonds; and (B) pursuant to Section 145(a) of the Code, all property which is to be provided by the net proceeds of the Bonds is to be owned by a Section 501(c)(3) organization or a governmental unit and at least ninety-five percent (95%) of the net proceeds of the Bonds are used with respect to (1) governmental units and/or (2) the activities of Section 501(c)(3) organizations which do not constitute "unrelated trades or businesses" (as defined in Section 513(a) of the Code) with respect to such Section 501(c)(3) organizations.
If the Issuer determines to proceed with the Project and issue the Bonds, (A) the proceeds of the Bonds will be loaned by the Issuer to the Company pursuant to a loan agreement (the "Agreement") requiring that the Company or its designee make payments equal to debt service on the Bonds and make certain other payments to the Issuer and (B) the Bonds will be a special obligation of the Issuer payable solely out of certain of the proceeds of the Agreement and certain other assets of the Issuer pledged to the repayment of the Bonds. THE BONDS SHALL NOT BE A DEBT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK OR ERIE COUNTY, NEW YORK, AND NEITHER THE STATE OF NEW YORK NOR ERIE COUNTY, NEW YORK SHALL BE LIABLE THEREON.
The Issuer has not yet made a determination pursuant to Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law (the "SEQR Act") regarding the potential environmental impact of the Project.
The Issuer will at said time and place hear all persons with views on the location and nature of the proposed Project, the financial assistance being contemplated by the Issuer in connection with the proposed Project or the proposed plan of financing the proposed Project by the issuance from time to time of the Bonds. A copy of the Application filed by the Company with the Issuer with respect to the Project, including an analysis of the costs and benefits of the Project, is available for public inspection during business hours at the offices of the Issuer. A transcript or summary report of the hearing will be made available to the members of the board of directors of the Issuer and to the County Executive.
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING SPECIAL PUBLIC HEARING CONDUCT INSTRUCTIONS AND INFORMATION RELATED TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC:
Pursuant to Revenue Procedure 2021-39, promulgated in response to the on-going Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Issuer will livestream the Public Hearing for those wanting to listen only at https://www.ecidany.com/streaming. To participate via audio conferencing (using a traditional phone) please dial toll-free (866) 804-5312. The participant passcode is: 5854198606#.
The Issuer will provide public access to provide oral comments during the Public Hearing at https://www.ecidany.com/public-comment-and-registration. To provide oral comments via audio conferencing (using a traditional phone) please dial toll-free (866) 804-5312. The participant passcode is: 5854198606#.
If you would like to make oral comments at the Public Hearing, please register to do so no later than 12:00 p.m. on December 9, 2021. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the call to provide oral comments. Finally, the Agency also encourages all interested parties to submit written comments to the Agency, which will all be included within the public hearing record. Any written comments may be sent on the Agency’s website, or mailed to the Agency at 95 Perry Street-Suite 403, Buffalo, NY 14203 until the comment period closes at 4:00 p.m. on December 21, 2021.
