The successor agency for the West Hollywood Community Development Commission has received an AA rating from the credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings for its Tax Allocation Refunding Bonds Series 2021.

S&P Global Ratings recently reviewed the successor agency’s Tax Allocation Refunding Bonds and overall financial operations. S&P Global Ratings is one of three nationally recognized statistical rating organizations designated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Following the dissolution of redevelopment agencies in California in 2012, successor agencies assumed their assets and obligations. In February 2012, the city of West Hollywood became the successor agency for the former West Hollywood Community Development Commission and assumed the assets and obligations associated with its housing projects.

The recent AA rating reflects an upgrade from a previous A rating. It allows the successor agency to access low interest rates available in the market and makes bonds more popular with investors.

“This is extraordinarily good news. The city of West Hollywood has extremely sound fiscal management policies and I’m so proud of our staff who have helped the successor agency for the West Hollywood Community Development Commission to achieve these ratings,” Mayor Lindsey Horvath said. “As we navigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and as we chart a course forward, this is a great indicator of optimism. West Hollywood is weathering the storm and our stable economic outlook will allow us to continue to be strong for our community.”

S&P Global Ratings cited West Hollywood’s East Side Redevelopment Project Area as a catalyst for improved ratings.

“The assessed value for the East Side Redevelopment Project Area has grown consistently in each year for the past several years, reflecting a very strong economy that [is] well tied-in with the Los Angeles metropolitan area,” read an analysis by S&P Global Ratings. “Encompassing much of the area surrounding Santa Monica Boulevard in the city of West Hollywood, the project area is primarily comprised of residential high-rise apartment buildings along with some commercial/retail properties. Although the rapid onset of the recent recession in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic has emerged in multiple economic indicators, such as the unemployment rate and sales tax receipts, we have yet to see signs of material stress in the residential real estate market that primarily underlies the project area’s base.”

For information, visit weho.org/city-government/city-departments/finance-and-technology-services/west-hollywood-successor-agency.