Infrastructure Development & Management Strategies

This morning the Maryland Port Commission approved a plan to lease Baltimore’s Seagirt Marine Terminal to Ports America Chesapeake.  Under the agreement, the operator will provide extensive capital improvements to the terminal, including a $105M deep-water berth expansion with four additional container cranes.  The state will also receive ongoing lease payments throughout the 50-year term, [...]

In a news conference this morning, North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue announced the state plans to undertake its first design-build-finance highway contract to complete the final segment of the I-485 loop around Charlotte.
Under this procurement model, successfully implemented on several Florida projects, the contractor pays for construction costs out-of-pocket and is later reimbursed by the [...]

Following the May 2009 enactment of Senate Bill 200, Georgia is continuing an ambitious restructuring of its statewide PPP strategy.  “We are developing a P3 program that will be among the best, if not the very best, in the nation,” said Georgia DOT Commissioner Vance C. Smith, Jr.
In addition to creating a new PPP division [...]

Today’s Virginian-Pilot interviewed F2I2’s director, Prof. Michael J. Garvin, about the recession’s impact on the availability of financing for the $1.5 billion Midtown Tunnel PPP.  Despite investors’ decreased appetite for risk, he noted the project’s significant equity contribution (an estimated $525 million, relative to the proposed $1.2 billion debt), as well as a $600 million [...]

BAA confirmed it would sell London’s Gatwick Airport for £1.51 billion to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). BAA earlier hoped to receive at least £1.8 billion and was reluctant to go below £1.6 billion. Ferrovial, a Spanish infrastructure company and BAA’s parent company, stated that it would lose €142 million on the disposal of Gatwick. GIP [...]

Following nearly four years of procurement efforts, the Port of Miami Tunnel PPP reached financial close on October 15 after an extension of the October 1 deadline.  The financing package included $341M senior debt from a consortium of ten banks, $341M federal TIFIA loans, and $80M equity from project sponsors Meridiam Infrastructure (90%) and Bouygues [...]

On Oct. 7, 2009, TxDOT officials announced that in response to citizen comments received during the environmental review of Trans-Texas Corridor-35 (TTC-35), the department will recommend the “No Action Alternative” on the environmental study to the FHWA. This recommendation will effectively terminate the efforts to develop TTC-35. In 2005, TxDOT awarded a $3.5 million CDA [...]

On Oct. 6, 2009, TxDOT signed a $1.02 billion CDA with NorthGate Constructors JV, a consortium led by Kiewit and Zachry, to develop, design and construct the DFW Connector. It is the third billion dollar-plus road development contract executed by Texas this year. The other two include the $2.7 billion LBJ-635 project and the $2 [...]

A month after it received an unsolicited proposal to expand the congested Dominion Boulevard corridor, the city of Chesapeake, Virginia rejected the offer yesterday.  (See September 1, 2009 report.)  The city manager cited five primary deficiencies, including concerns about safety and environmental aspects, an inadequate financial plan, and potentially excessive tolls and the resulting diversion [...]

Today the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) finalized the long-expected transfer of Dulles Toll Road operations to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA).  Although MWAA anticipates no immediate service changes, the authority has proposed raising the facility’s mainline tolls from 75 cents to $1.50 by 2012 in support of a $5 billion extension of Metro [...]