Interesting housing projects come forward and authorities look to use P3s to leverage their transit-spurred development opportunities.
This week was kicked off with a major, multi-island housing P3 in Hawaii - a state with a promising future but bumpy track record of delivering P3s in recent times.
The Hawaii Public Housing Authority (HPHA) has released a request for qualifications (RFQ) on its Ka Lei Momi housing P3, which will redevelop 9 housing facilities across 6 of the archipelago’s islands.
Notably, a number of the projects are located in near proximity to the HART light rail project, and transit-oriented developments could feature as part of the plans.
You may recall, the rocky, and ultimately, unsuccessful HART P3 procurement from a couple of years ago, which was scrapped and re-tendered as a design-build despite being close to appointing a preferred bidder and retaining the support of its chief executive.
P3s could be back in favor on the archipelago however, particularly with the Governor Josh Green putting support behind the revival of the split-up stadium P3. It’s going to be interesting to see how the stadium, housing project and prison P3s are received by the industry.
Meanwhile, an intriguing tender in Texas came forward this week. The Raymondville Independent School District released a request for qualification on a multi-site housing P3 project.
With the region in “dire need” of new housing, the authority has selected a number of its surplus campus sites to be developed for residential spaces through a P3.
Coming from a school district, an authority-type not often associated with P3s, it’s hard not to wonder how many other authorities across the US could also help alleviate housing shortages in their areas while also receiving the added benefit of monetizing unused lands.
In other project news, a couple of major P3s received significant backing this week:
President Joe Biden unveiled major IIJA funding for the long-awaited Hudson Tunnel project, which is currently looking for a partner, and also some funding for Louisiana Department of Transportation’s Calcasieu River Bridge Replacement P3, which is currently at the shortlist phase.
Similarly, when it comes to major P3s receiving funding: the Inglewood Connector P3 received a critical grant in excess of $400m this week, continuing its impressive momentum as it prepares to analyze bids from the three teams fighting for it.
Further into the outskirts of Los Angeles, an exciting future City Hall mixed-use P3 could be coming down the line: in a council meeting last year, the city of San Fernando said it is looking to “capitalize” on the new light rail stop that is planned expected to open in the area in 2028 and is looking to start exploring the use of a P3 to do so.
The news was unearthed by our exciting new tool, which we’re in the process of testing. The new tool, which scours public authority public meetings and discussions to uncover proposed P3 schemes before they are tendered, is currently being trialled in Florida and California - but we have high hopes for rolling it out across the US. To hear more about it, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
One of 2020’s major projects, the University of Iowa’s campus energy P3 has found itself in court, it has emerged. The university told us that it was looking to resolve disputes around contract interpretations that it has had with the Engie, Meridiam and Hannon Armstrong consortium. Iowa said it is “eager” for the court to provide us with a clear definition of the contract for both parties to adhere to.”
Talking of disputes, The City of Ottawa and the P3 team in charge of the troubled light rail project have agreed a settlement to move the scheme forward. Both sides issued a statement saying they had been “working collaboratively and cooperatively together” to create a plan to get the project back on track.