Real deals: Six P3 jobs in 7 states now underway

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It seems almost every day we hear about a big Private-Public Partnership (P3) project, and it’s not often good news. The latest woes are even playing out on the world stage right now, where the P3 contracts behind much of the troubled construction for the ongoing Rio Olympics are unavoidably stained.

Indeed, high-profile misfires, bankruptcies, and litigation in Texas, Illinois, California, Canada, and elsewhere, admittedly have dimmed the glow on P3, which had been promoted by many as a savior for much-needed, long-overdue infrastructure projects that cash-strapped public entities were unable to accomplish on their own. But as newsworthy as the missteps may be, they are not the whole story.

Truth be told, P3 does appear to be succeeding as a welcome alternative financing method on a number of mega-projects, often involving global partners, all across the U.S. Here are just six big P3 programs either nearing completion or approaching significant milestones in seven different states:

1. EAGLE P3 COMMUTER RAIL LINE (DENVER, CO)

2. OHIO RIVER BRIDGE, EAST END CROSSING (IN, KY)

 

3. LaGuardia Airport, Terminal B (New york, nY)

4. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, MERCED – 2020 project

  • Value: $1.3 billion;
  • Completion date: 2020;
  • P3 Partners: UC Merced, Plenary Group, Webcor Builders, SOM, and Johnson Controls;
  • Scale/size: Mixed-use, 1.2 million-sq-ft project will add 1,700 student beds, 1,500 parking spaces;
  • Local twist: The 2020 Project is an “availability-payment concession“, in which a single private development team designs, builds, operates, and maintains major building systems and partially finances the entire project under a single contract. The Project Agreement will run for 39 years.

5. PURPLE LINE TRANSIT, New Carrolton to Bethesda (MD)

http://youtu.be/G6iQ-egCuHg

 

6. Texas Grand Parkway (Houston, TX)

ON the ballot: TEXAS RANGERS STADIUM (ARLINGTON, TX)

 

  • Value: $1 billion; 50/50 split, dependent on November referendum;
  • Completion date: 2021;
  • Proposed P3 Partners: City of Arlington TX and Texas Rangers; Above rendering by Kansas City-based sports architecture firm Populous;
  • Scale/size: 40,000-seat; retractable roof, air-conditioning;
  • Inconvenient truth: Project would replace the critically acclaimed Ballpark at Arlington, now Global Life Park, which is just 22 years old. Opened in 1994, that $191-million facility was designed by Fort Worth architect David Schwarz, who said then it should last 100 years.