Blog
A Mega “Transit Village” Awaits The Gateway Tunnel
The Penn District of NYC is the most connected transportation hub in the United States. The District includes connections with 15 subway lines and 5 commuter rail systems. This diagram was displayed in Penn 2, which is being renovated and enhanced by Vornado, the real estate company which owns many of buildings in and around Penn Station and is a major player in the redevelopment of the area. The Penn District My son [...]
Staying in the Collaborative Quadrant of Conflict Resolution
The development of complex infrastructure projects very often requires very complex agreements. These projects tend to have implementation periods that can continue for many decades. This makes it challenging to completely identify every possible eventuality or future conditions in the contracting provisions. This complexity and uncertainty can produce situations where there are differences in interpretation and opinion. Therefore, the agreement must include adjustment mechanisms and a dispute resolution process that can resolve conflicts and avoid [...]
Achieving Climate Resilience with PPPs
It is hard to deny that weather-related natural disasters are increasingly affecting our communities and the built environment. You just need to watch the front page news stories. Most of us can also agree there is an urgent need for climate action with projects to improve resilience to climate change events. Projects also need to provide adaptation for the long-term effects of climate change. Fortunately, much-needed funding for climate resiliency has recently been approved in [...]
Should You Use a Public-Private Partnership (PPP)?
As more funding is becoming available for infrastructure projects in the US, public owners will need to decide what form of project delivery method they should use. As practitioners know, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to delivering infrastructure projects (some choices being D-B-B, DB, DBF, DBOM and PPP or a DBFOM). Before deciding, here are a few questions to explore if a PPP is right for your Project. 1. Is the Public Sector [...]
The Paradigm Shifts in Mega-Projects
Over the past 5 decades, infrastructure development has been going through several paradigm shifts on how to best get major projects approved and implemented. During this time, the industry has seen some continuing positive trends in implementing the elements of Mega Projects. This article identifies several of these trends, which should be emphasized in our coming renewal of infrastructure. The paradigm shifts in development, project delivery, funding and dispute resolution are along the lines of [...]
Leveraging Public Assets to Fund Transit, with Joint Development Agreements
I recently co-authored a new Transit Cooperative Research Program, Legal Research Digest 56, with colleagues Mac Nichols, Sarah Richards and Eric Peterson, on Joint Development Agreements for Transit Projects. I was the primary legal and contracts advisor on the team. We produced a resource document to assist transit agencies in navigating Federal Transit Administration (FTA) - assisted joint development (JD) and transit-oriented development (TOD) contracts. This Digest provides a catalog of best JD/TOD procurement and [...]