O'Hare terminal's excess costs push Chicago to approve revenue bonding.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago City Council approved the issuance of up to $200 million of revenue bonds on Wednesday to cover cost over-runs in the new international terminal at the city's O'Hare International Airport.

The city plans to sell approximately $175 million of airport revenue bonds later this month in a deal headed by Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co., according to John Holden, a spokesman for the city's finance department.

Co-managers for the deal are First Chicago Capital Markets Inc.; Bear, Stearns & Co.; Clayton Brown & Associates; Reinoso and Co.; Apex Securities Inc.; Gardner, Rich & Co.; and Hamilton Investments Inc. Co-bond counsel are Chapman and Cutler and Carney & Brothers Ltd. The financial advisers on the deal are Ellis Financial Group and Midwest Management Consultants.

Holden said the deal could be insured but that a decision would wait until next week.

The city issued $489 million of bonds for the international terminal in 1990. That debt is currently rated A by Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's Corp.

In a press release, the city's aviation department said additional costs that arose during the terminal's three years of construction caused the city and airlines to agree that an additional bond issue was required.

"Additional costs resulted from changes due to design issues and schedule acceleration and changes requested by the airlines," the release says.

The aviation department is projecting that the facility will be partially operational in June 1993 and fully operational in October 1993.

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