The Colorado State University System has secured more than $171 million in bond financing for a suite of projects that college officials say will transform the Fort Collins campus over the next few years. The bonds will fund construction of new facilities for academics, research and student services.

The bond package that supports six major construction projects sold in less than four hours on Aug. 6 and delivered a combined true interest rate of 4.01%.

The projects financed in the sale include:

• A five-story, 152,000-sq-ft biology building.

• A new 105,000-sq-ft medical center that will be built at the corner of Prospect Road and College Avenue in Fort Collins.

• Approximately 85,000 sq ft of academic and alumni space that will be located on the east side of the new multi-use stadium on campus.

• The relocation and construction of the state-of-the-art W.D. Holley Plant Environmental Research Center south of the main

campus.

•  A four-story, 640-space parking garage at the corner of Pitkin and Mason streets.

•  A new surface parking lot across from the Veterinary Teaching Hospital on Drake Road in Fort Collins that will add about 900 spaces.

The financing package also included Colorado’s first “green bonds” associated with the new medical center, which is targeting at least LEED Silver. CSU, ranked among the most environmentally sustainable schools in the country, currently has 13 buildings certified as LEED Gold or better. Green bonds are a relatively new financial instrument that match investors with environmentally friendly projects.

The new medical center will house the CSU Health Network, which provides a wide range of health services to students, and the Columbine Center for Healthy Aging and a University of Colorado Health primary care clinic. In addition to enhancing medical services provided to students and the community and bolstering heath care-related research capabilities at CSU, the new building will also serve as an important gateway to campus at one of Fort Collins’ most high-profile intersections.

Before the sale of the bonds, both Standard and Poor’s Rating Service and Moody’s Investor’s Service affirmed the financial strength of the CSU System by maintaining the system’s underlying bond ratings. Moody’s upheld the system’s “Aa3” rating, and S&P continued its “A+” rating for CSU System debt.

CSU also maintained an S&P rating of “AA-“ and a Moody’s rating of “Aa2” for bonds issued with the backing of the Colorado State Intercept Program. All bonds in this package were issued with the backing of the intercept program, with the exception of the academic and alumni space attached to the stadium.