Infra Insight Blog

Nossaman is assisting friends at the University of California, Riverside with publicizing the following two job opportunities.

The first position is a newly-refined position as Director of Capital Asset Management, reporting to a new Assistant Vice Chancellor for Capital Asset Strategies.  Responsibilities of the Capital Asset Management (CAM) unit will include real estate projects (on campus and off campus), leases, licensing, space management, GIS services, faculty housing, public-private partnerships and related matters.

The second position is the new Assistant Vice ...

With the enactment of Senate Bill 785, the State of California has taken a major step forward in authorizing state and local agencies to use design-build.  Although many California agencies have the ability to use design-build without the need for specific enabling legislation, other agencies require specific design-build legislation in order to be able to use design-build effectively, either because they are precluded by law from using a best value selection process for design-build or do not have the ability to bundle design and construction into a single contract.

The new ...

The inaugural P3s for Public Buildings Summit will be held on November 17-18, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency in Miami, FL. The summit will be hosted by the National Council for Public-Private Partnerships and the Performance Based Building Coalition.

The summit will explore ways that P3s can be developed and implemented to replace the nation’s deteriorating public buildings, including schools, hospitals, courthouses, universities, police stations and prisons.

• Topics of discussion will include:
• Financing of projects;
• Federal policy challenges and solutions;
• Case studies of ...

On September 17, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee’s Panel on Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) released its report and recommendations.  The group, empaneled in February of this year, was tasked with examining issues regarding public-private partnerships across all aspects of the Committee’s jurisdiction.  The panel held two hearings and seven roundtable discussions in addition to other meetings and briefings. The report recognizes that the nation’s infrastructure needs are extraordinary and P3s in certain situations can provide innovative ...

The FHWA published its final Core Toll Concessions P3 Model Contract Guide (Guide) on September 10, 2014 as part of its mandate under MAP-21 to develop standard public-private partnership transaction model contracts for the most popular types of public-private partnerships.  The Guide serves as an educational tool to assist states, public transportation agencies, and other public officials in developing their own public-private partnership agreements. 

The FHWA determined an educational approach is preferred to prescriptive requirements based on feedback received during a ...

The Florida Department of Transportation reached commercial and financial close on the I-4 Ultimate Project in the urban Orlando area.  The $2.3 billion deal is the third transportation P3 project in Florida developed through an availability payment structure, and is the largest availability payment transaction ever undertaken in the United States.

FDOT entered into an agreement with I-4 Mobility Partners OpCo LLC, a consortium led by Skanska Infrastructure Development Inc. and John Laing Investments Limited.  The Concessionaire will design, construct, finance, maintain and ...

Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts will soon become a reality for many cities and counties looking for a mechanism to perform some functions previously done by redevelopment agencies.  Senate Bill 628 (SB 628) passed the State legislature on August 30, 2014 which, when signed by the Governor, would expand the use of Infrastructure Financing Districts.

SB 628 authorizes the legislative body of a city or county to establish an enhanced infrastructure financing district, adopt an infrastructure financing plan, and issue bonds, for which only the enhanced infrastructure ...

On Friday, September 5, 2014, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published its final rule for Value Engineering (VE) for road and bridge projects.  The new rule implements changes made to VE requirements under Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), the last surface transportation authorization law that was signed into law in July 2012.

The FHWA’s final rule for VE increases the project thresholds that trigger a VE analysis, eliminates the VE analysis requirement for design-build projects, and defines the requirements for a state Department of ...

Earlier this week, on August 25, 2014, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) published Circular 7050.1, providing much anticipated guidance for grantees interested in pursuing joint development projects within FTA’s legal and regulatory framework.  The circular incorporates joint-development related provisions from MAP-21, and is intended to clarify FTA’s policy and serve as its single guidance document on the subject.

Specifically, the circular: (1) defines the term joint development; (2) explains how a joint development project can qualify for FTA assistance; ...

On August 22, 2014, the Texas Department of Transportation and Abrams-Kiewit Joint Venture (Developer) reached commercial close on the Loop 375 Border Highway West Extension Project (Project).  The contract, which includes design-build and comprehensive maintenance agreements (collectively the CDA), was conditionally awarded to the Developer in April of this year.  Developer is a joint venture consisting of J.D. Abrams and Kiewit Infrastructure South Co.

The Project is located west of downtown El Paso, south of Interstate Highway 10 (I-10) and extends approximately nine ...