Construction Law: Public-Private Partnerships

Crowell & Moring's Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) practice utilizes a cross-disciplinary approach to solving complex PPP issues, drawing on the full range of expertise from our construction, real estate, government contracts, public policy, corporate and securities, tax, energy and environmental practices. With an extensive knowledge of the state, federal and international regulatory challenges facing public-private partnerships, we are adept at guiding clients toward exceptional results in the emerging U.S. and international market for PPP projects.

Public-private partnerships are organizational structures by which the private sector finances, builds, rehabilitates, maintains, and/or operates specific public sector activities in exchange for a contractually specified stream of future returns; they differ from traditional U.S. public procurements in several key aspects, particularly with regard to financing, operation, and procurement terms. Long a staple of public procurement in Europe, PPPs are increasingly favored in the United States, as dwindling federal, state and local budgets make partial private financing an attractive option for governments seeking to procure large construction and infrastructure projects.

Our PPP lawyers represent prime contractors, owners, design professionals, financial institutions, developers and subcontractors in a wide variety of issues that may arise during the life-cycle of a project, ranging from development incentives to finance, bid preparation, claims, construction and all aspects of disputes including bid protests. Our experience in international and domestic project finance and development also includes significant representations in the construction and energy infrastructure fields, often times balancing our clients' goals and interests with the diverse and often competing interests of governmental entities.

Specific representative engagements include:

Negotiation and drafting of all necessary agreements in furtherance of wind power development projects, including Power Purchase Agreements, interconnect agreements, land leases, renewable energy credits, turbine acquisition, O&M, construction, and financing.
Transportation infrastructure Public-Private Partnerships, including work with the Federal Aviation Administration regarding airport infrastructure, service development projects, and air traffic control systems.
Development of Public-Private Partnership to develop a Brazilian highway infrastructure project.
Public-Private Partnerships for stadium, theme park, and mixed use facility development and construction.
Representation of a large national home builder regarding proposed Public-Private Partnership to build residential housing units for the U.S. Navy.
Participation in negotiations between the U.S. Army and a municipality regarding Public-Private Partnership to design, build, operate and maintain an 18-hole golf course on Army premises.
Representation of corporations and foreign governments in build-operate-transfer power generation and natural gas distribution projects.
Providing advice to the Guatemalan government with respect to the development of a 400 to 550 mile (depending upon the route) gas pipeline from México to Guatemala.
Joint venture, transactional, and regulatory counseling with respect to "mine-mouth" coal fired power generation facilities.
Represented a contractor on a public works tunnel project for the Port of Los Angeles.