On March 7, Project Finance Magazine held its annual “Project Finance Americas Deals of the Year” awards dinner in New York City.  The awards – which started 14 years ago – are for innovation, deal repeatability, best practice, problem solving, value for money and speed of delivery in the financing of infrastructure projects.  Two public-private partnership projects – one on the East coast and one on the West coast – received honors at this year’s dinner.     

The award for 2012 North America Toll Road Deal of the Year was given to the Midtown Tunnel project located in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia.  The $2.1 billion toll concession project, which reached financial close in April 2012, is comprised of a new two-lane tunnel adjacent to the existing Midtown Tunnel, the maintenance and safety improvements to the existing Midtown and Downtown Tunnels, and an extension of the Martin Luther King Freeway to Interstate 264.  The project sponsor was Elizabeth River Crossings Opco LLC, a consortium led by Macquarie and Skanska ID.  The awarding authority was the Virginia Department of Transportation.  Nossaman served as legal advisor to VDOT.   

The award for 2012 North America Public Private Partnership Deal of the Year was given to the Presidio Parkway project located in San Francisco, California.  The $1.1 billion project was the first transportation project in California to be delivered using the state’s recently enacted P3 statute and only the third highway project in the United States developed through an availability payment structure.  The project sponsor was Golden Link Concessionaire, LLC, a consortium led by Hochtief PPP Solutions North America and Meridiam Infrastructure North America.  The awarding authorities were the California Department of Transportation and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority.  Nossaman served as legal advisor to Caltrans.  

Attendees at the awards dinner included: Dale Bonner, formerly the Secretary of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency for the State of California; Sean Connaughton, Secretary of Transportation for the Commonwealth of Virginia; Dusty Holcombe, Deputy Director for the Virginia Office of Public Private Partnerships; and Ryan Pedraza, Program Manager for the Virginia Office of Public Private Partnerships.

Nossaman would like to extend its congratulations to VDOT, Caltrans and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority for their achievements, and to all those who made these awards possible.