Rudy Salo serves as counsel on a broad range of community impact financings involving governmental entities, transportation systems, educational institutions, cultural institutions and entertainment venues. His practice includes advising lenders in structuring various lending facilities throughout California and the United States, often involving real estate or other collateral. He also has experience advising new mobility companies.
I have significant experience representing commercial banks in providing credit and liquidity facilities in support of tax-exempt and taxable municipal securities, as well as representing those banks in the direct purchase of privately placed debt and the negotiation of revolving credit agreements and other lending solutions. I also advise on the various real estate issues that arise in connection with transactions that use real estate as collateral. I have represented numerous banks throughout the country in such transactions, including in California, Nevada, New York, Massachusetts, Washington, Arizona, Oregon and New Mexico.
My work also involves financings related to transportation, including significant experience in funding transportation projects with a variety of funding sources. These projects include serving as underwriter’s counsel on numerous Bay Area Toll Authority toll road financings; serving as disclosure counsel to the State of Nevada in connection with its highway revenue bonds; representing the San Mateo County Express Lanes Joint Powers Authority in connection with the financing of the Highway 101 Express Lanes Project; representing banks in providing credit facilities and loans to various transit agencies, including the Riverside County Transportation Commission, the San Diego Regional Transportation Commission, Victor Valley Transit Authority and the San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority; representing the USDOT as a lender in the financing of the extension of the 91 Express Lanes into Riverside County, California; the Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s Orange Line extension to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport; the financial restructuring of the South Bay Expressway (State Road 125) toll road in Southern California upon its emergence from bankruptcy; and the sale and financing of the sale of State Road 125 to the San Diego Association of Governments.
I have significant experience in both short- and long-term financings for school districts, community college districts, private schools and universities throughout the country. These financings include serving as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, disclosure counsel and lender’s counsel in the issuance of general obligation and revenue bonds as well as direct placements/loans.
I see changes needed in how to finance transportation projects throughout the country, including the infrastructure needed to accommodate driverless car technology. I also see continuing opportunities for municipalities and nonprofits to combine a variety of private, local, statewide and federal funding sources to progress various public improvement projects, including the expansion of the use of bank facilities.
Forbes | February 08, 2021
Los Angeles Project Finance & Public Finance partner Rudy Salo contributed this article on how a continued dominance of the gas tax as the primary source for federal and state transportation funding—amid the rise of electric vehicles—raises questions for the future of U.S. infrastructure.
Forbes | October 27, 2020
This contributed article by Los Angeles Project Finance & Public Finance partner Rudy Salo discusses how the results of national and statewide elections could have major impacts on the future of ride-sharing and infrastructure.
The Bond Buyer | October 26, 2020
This article on The Bond Buyer’s California Public Finance Conference Monday, which focused on how climate change will affect investors and rating agencies, quotes Los Angeles Project Finance & Public Finance partner Rudy Salo on the impact of Exxon Mobil’s litigation against California issuers on municipal markets.
Forbes | October 14, 2020
Los Angeles Project Finance and Public Finance partner Rudy Salo contributed this article that examines the pandemic’s impact on transportation, as well as the resulting conversation about the future of mobility and its environmental impact.
Forbes | July 31, 2020
In this contributed article, Los Angeles Project Finance & Public Finance partner Rudy Salo discusses how COVID-19 and the forced work-from-home experiment may have permanently changed the future of cities as the epicenters of the economy.
Rockefeller Institute of Government | July 07, 2020
In this article on how COVID-19 could impact transit funding, Los Angeles Project Finance & Public Finance partner Rudy Salo is quoted for his outlook on ridership in the Bay Area.
Forbes | March 31, 2020
The latest contributed column from Los Angeles Project Finance and Public Finance partner Rudy Salo looks at how the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic could alter the infrastructure and transportation landscapes.
Forbes | February 01, 2020
Los Angeles Project Finance and Public Finance partner Rudy Salo focuses his latest contributed column on several mobility-related takeaways from CES 2020, including the latest developments in autonomous vehicle adoption.
Forbes | January 16, 2020
In his latest contributed column for Forbes, Los Angeles Project Finance and Public Finance partner Rudy Salo explains how the coming wave of Baby Boomer retirements could change transportation habits and land-use trends.
Forbes | December 19, 2019
Los Angeles Project Finance & Public Finance partner Rudy Salo authored this column about how a dearth of affordable housing close to public transit stops is one of the biggest factors contributing to a drop in L.A. transit ridership.
Forbes | November 21, 2019
Los Angeles Project Finance & Public Finance partner Rudy Salo, in his latest column for Forbes, breaks down the impact of California’s new “independent contractor” law, which makes ride-hailing workers, on-demand delivery drivers and others eligible for the same wages and benefits available to full-time employees.
Governing.com | May 20, 2019
Los Angeles Public Finance and Project Finance partner Rudy Salo says the impact of federal tax reform, which included a $10,000 cap on the deduction for state and local taxes, on the real estate market has not been as dire as predicted.
Governing.com | April 11, 2019
This article about the federal tax reform’s impact on states quotes Los Angeles Project Finance and Public Finance partner Rudy Salo discussing the long-term effects it may have on government debt and how voters may react to bonds in the future.
Los Angeles Business Journal | February 12, 2019
Los Angeles Project Finance and Public Finance partner Rudy Salo is quoted in this story about the benefits and accompanying uncertainty for small businesses involved in large-scale infrastructure projects.
Bond Buyer | January 03, 2019
Los Angeles Project Finance and Public Finance partner Rudy Salo is quoted in this article on the medium-term outlook for cannabis businesses, which may get a boost from a variety of political factors that could lessen the federal government’s resistance to legalization.
Governing | January 01, 2019
Los Angeles Project Finance and Public Finance partner Rudy Salo is quoted in this article discussing how taxpayers across the country are likely to pay higher bills this April due to the new $10,000 cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes.
The Bond Buyer | July 26, 2018
Los Angeles Project Finance and Public Finance partner Rudy Salo is quoted in this article on how autonomous vehicles will impact the future of transportation planning.
The Bond Buyer | July 23, 2018
Los Angeles Project Finance and Public Finance partner Rudy Salo provides his perspective on how driverless cars will impact mass transit planning in this Bond Buyer podcast.
Medium.com | May 08, 2018
Los Angeles public finance partner Rudy Salo, an Arab-American with family roots in Lebanon, wrote this piece about the importance of the California State Senate’s recent resolution declaring Arab American Heritage Month.
Georgetown University Law Center, J.D.
University of California, Los Angeles, B.A., magna cum laude
California
Arabic
Spanish
Rudy Salo is a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, a board member the Arab American Lawyers of Southern California and the American Bar Association.
