Infra Insight Blog

The University of Iowa has entered into a 50-year utility public-private partnership (P3), engaging a private partner to operate, maintain, optimize, and improve the University’s existing utility system and help the University transition to coal-free energy production by 2024. ENGIE North America and Meridiam will serve as the University’s private partner. According to the University, the deal represents one of the first utility P3s entered into by any university in the country.  

Under this 50-year P3 agreement, the University’s private partner will provide steam ...

Watch out Silicon Valley, Sacramento is gearing up to launch a research center and prototype lab focused on developing electric and autonomous vehicle technologies.  The California Mobility Center is largely funded by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and supported by a band of public and private partners, including the City of Sacramento, Greater Sacramento Economic Council, Los Rios Community College District, University of California Davis, California State University Sacramento, PEM Motion, and Valley Vision Inc.  EnerTech of Toronto will be managing the ...

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of again attending CoMotion LA.  Spearheaded by John Rossant, CoMotion LA brings together leaders and innovators of new solutions to solve the mobility issues of our modern world.  One of the central themes was adopting new mobility solutions to relieve congestion, an increasingly prevalent reality as populations in cities continue to grow.

During the panel on “Financing the Future:  Public-Private Partnering for New Mobility Solutions,” a panel comprised of representatives from the Canadian electric school bus manufacturer Lion Electric ...

Nossaman attorneys Yuliya Oryol, Peter Mixon and Allan Ickowitz provided feedback and comments on drafts of Bridging Public Pension Funds and Infrastructure Investing, a white paper co-authored by Clive Lipshitz and Ingo Walter (NYU Stern School of Business).

The paper is a thoughtful evaluation of the sustainability of the largest public pension systems in the United States and the role of infrastructure investing in their portfolios. Lipshitz and Walter argue that infrastructure should become more central to pension portfolios despite the existing challenges for ...

Last December we told you about favorable IRS guidance letting P3 contractors and investors keep full tax deductions for interest on debt.[1] The IRS kept a P3-friendly approach in last week’s proposed regulations on qualified opportunity zones – which, like the interest limitations in our December post, come from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).[2]  The qualified opportunity zone legislation promotes a broad range of real estate and business development in distressed areas, and these proposed regulations are particularly helpful to private parties contracting for and ...

One of the key events for the P3/infrastructure industry this year will be the P3 Policy and Delivery Summit, which is being held in Washington D.C. on May 14th and 15^th. The Summit is taking place during, and in partnership with, Infrastructure Week, and is poised  to attract industry leaders from the private sector and senior officials from federal, state, and local government. The event will be held at the Cosmos Club, a D.C. landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Summit’s focus is to analyze the respective roles of federal, state and local government in ...

A pair of Senators from both sides of the aisle, Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), introduced the Public Buildings Renewal Act of 2019 last week, which would authorize the use of tax exempt financing along with private equity to rebuild schools and public buildings through public-private partnerships.  We owe it to our students and teachers, our firefighters and nurses, and all taxpayers to find a way to upgrade our schools and public buildings.  This is a public health and safety issue that impacts not just Hoosiers, but all Americans.  Our bill ...

Have you ever wished there was a comprehensive, easily accessible project cost database for major US transportation projects?  It would be populated following an in depth review of information available from State DOT’s and would capture not just the capital cost of the project, but it’s operation and maintenance cost and delivery and financing approach.  The information could be valuable in many ways, including assessing the project performance outcomes for P3’s and non P3’s.

As I found out a couple of weeks ago at the Transportation Research Board annual meeting, there ...

Contractors and investors in P3s can continue taking a full tax deduction for interest on debt under recent IRS guidance (Revenue Procedure 2018-59, issued November 26). Many P3s are highly leveraged, and the interest deduction is a valuable tax benefit for developers. Were this deduction restricted, P3 developers’ (and by extension governments’) costs would rise; potential investors would demand higher rates of return; and infrastructure projects would be more costly.  Without this guidance, the 2017  tax law would otherwise severely restrict the interest deduction for ...

Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) and LA Gateway Partners, LLC  (LAGP), together with equity providers and lenders, achieved Financial Close on the approximately $2 billion consolidated rent-a-car facility (ConRAC) at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on December 6, 2018.

LAGP is owned indirectly by funds managed by Fengate Asset Management ("Fengate LAGP US I, LLC", 83.3%) and PCL Investments USA, LLC ("PCL LAGP Partnership LP", 16.7%). After achieving Commercial Close on November 6, 2018, Fengate and PCL proceeded to secure private financing for the project  comprised ...