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public-private partnership (p3)

Practices

Public-Private Partnership (P3) Team

In light of diminished tax revenues, budget reductions and the overall weak economy, public and quasipublic entities, and private parties serving such entities, have found it necessary to create and participate in public-private partnerships that own, develop, construct, finance and operate projects traditionally providing “public” functions and services, including, but not limited to, public infrastructure and transportation projects, hospital and airport projects, and college and university development.

Our Public-Private Partnership (P3) Team includes lawyers from our corporate, construction, real estate, public finance, environmental, tax, transportation and regulatory groups as well as finance and development experts from Project Management Consultants LLC (PMC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Thompson Hine LLP. We have the experience and ability to develop and execute the most sophisticated P3 transactions. Through PMC, we also structure, source, integrate and obtain financing options unique to P3 projects.

P3 transactions often require creative approaches to address public construction and procurement laws that limit the ability of public owners to utilize modern business techniques. Our clients take great comfort in knowing that the lawyers on our team were instrumental in spearheading the modernization of Ohio’s public construction laws in 2011 and have a complete understanding of public bidding, finance and P3 issues and legislation.

We have successfully represented foreign, federal, state and local governments, as well as lenders, developers, concessionaires, investors, contractors, higher education and school districts in P3 projects developed in the United States and other countries. We are familiar with all traditional and nontraditional models and structures of P3 transactions, including sale/lease-back models, design/build agreements, design/build/operate/maintain agreements, concession and collaboration models, TIF structures, port authority and other bond related structures and pure privatization structures, joint ventures and partnerships.

Representative Experience

  • Representing a Dutch civil construction company in connection with the financing of various joint venture consortiums for highway construction, including the Calgary Ring Road in Alberta and Kicking Horse Pass in British Columbia, and in the administration and negotiation of claims relating to infrastructure projects, including the “Little Dig” and related Logan Airport expansion in Boston, the Cooper River bridge in South Carolina and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge East Span (Skyway) construction project.
  • Representing a senior secured lender on numerous P3 toll road projects in Brazil, including the $500 million Ecovias Dos Imigrantes toll road between Sao Paulo and the port city of Santos and the Yellow Line toll road project (phases I-IV) in Rio de Janeiro, which was the first P3 toll road project developed under Brazil’s newly enacted concession law.
  • Representing the municipality of Quito, Ecuador in the construction and bridge financing of its $600 million new international airport and related free trade zone with Aecon Construction of Canada as the lead contractor and long-term financing provided by the Inter-American Development Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).
  • Representing Cuyahoga County, Ohio in connection with the financing, leasing, development and construction of the Cleveland Convention Center and Global Center for Health Innovation.
  • Serving as developer’s counsel in connection with the $500 million mixed-use Flats East Bank Development in Cleveland, requiring the combination of 32 independent public and private financing sources.
  • Representing a Massachusetts-based educational facility development company in connection with structuring a collaboration agreement between the development company and Ohio-based community colleges for the development and construction of new building and classroom facilities.
  • Acting as counsel to the municipality in connection with tax increment financing for the Electrical Power Integrated Systems Research and Development Center on the campus of the University of Dayton.
  • Serving as developer’s counsel in connection with the tax-exempt bond financing of more than $600 million in public infrastructure necessary for the mixed-use redevelopment of the Stapleton Airport in Denver, the largest new urbanist project in the United States.
  • Representing numerous public owners and team owners in connection with the financing and development of 15 major league (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL) sports stadium and arena projects throughout the United States.
  • Acting as developer’s counsel in connection with the issuance of more than $50 million in tax increment revenue bonds for the public infrastructure improvements necessary for the renovation of the historic 523-foot Mercantile Tower in Dallas.
  • Serving as developer’s counsel in connection with the pending issuance of approximately $90 million in tax-exempt bonds secured by payments in lieu of taxes for public infrastructure improvements necessary for the phased development of an approximately 42-acre portion of the Southeast Federal Center located in the southeast quadrant of the District of Columbia.
  • Acting as developer’s counsel in connection with the pending issuance of approximately $500 million in proposed special levy bonds and approximately $500 million in tax increment revenue bonds to finance trunk and in-tract public infrastructure for the Mesa del Sol master planned community in Albuquerque.
  • Serving as developer’s counsel in connection with the issuance of up to $19 million in tax increment revenue notes and bonds for the public infrastructure improvements necessary for the Corridor 75 Park industrial/logistics center located at the southeast quadrant of the I-75 and State Route 63 interchange in Monroe, Ohio.
  • Representing a wind turbine development company in connection with the lease of wind turbines and sale of generated power to school districts pursuant to unique port authority bond financed lease structure.