Public-Private Partnership

The establishment of a “partnership” between governmental and private sector entities has become an important component of successful development. In a public-private venture a contractual arrangement is formed between public and private sector partners to combine the strengths of each in order to provide superior services in the most cost-effective manner. Typically, these arrangements involve a government agency contracting with a private partner to restore, organize, manage, sustain, and/or operate a facility or system, in whole or in part, that provides a public service. Wildman Harrold assists clients in all stages of this process including legislative authorization, federal regulatory review and approval, all aspects of financing and documenting the project, environmental review and clearance, concession agreement review and negotiation, teaming agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and performance-related issues that typically arise during design, construction, technology deployment, and operations.

Wildman Harrold served as lead counsel to a longtime client in its recent negotiations for providing information technology services to the Commonwealth of Virginia. The 10-year IT outsourcing agreement is valued at $2 billion and represents the largest private/public outsourcing agreement of its kind. Under the contract, our client has assumed responsibility for upgrading, managing and executing all functions of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, supporting 91 executive agencies of the Commonwealth. This agreement was particularly complex given the scope of the services involved, including: data security issues, the number of state agencies and citizens that must be supported, the length of the agreement exacerbated by the changing nature of technology, the legislative approval process and the fact that no agreement of this scope and magnitude had previously been structured.
Wildman Harrold represented an Illinois village facing a financial crisis as a result of a 450-acre TIF district designated as a “redevelopment project area.” We helped our client restructure the TIF and enter into a novel, non-adversarial “open-book negotiation” process with a new developer. The transaction was completely transparent, with both the developer and municipality disclosing their financial positions relative to the project on an annual basis, and was structured to provide ongoing incentives to the parties to cooperate with each other. As a result, the project is 18 months ahead of schedule.
After five years of negotiations, document drafting, and hard work with myriad parties, a firm client closed on a joint venture development project that will result in a well-known hotel being developed on the top 17 floors of a Chicago theater. In addition to our client, the joint venture includes the owner of the building and theater. This owner is in the process of renovating the theater as well and retained Wildman Harrold to represent it in connection with documenting construction and bridge loans and a letter of credit.
Counseled a private university in its partnership with local government to construct a 3,000 seat, lighted, artificial surface football stadium, a nine lane Olympic-size competition track, a lighted softball field, a 1,000 seat lighted baseball field and practice fields, and a high quality concession area, press boxes, meeting rooms, and suites that overlook the complex. Acted as bond counsel on a $6.5 million qualified Section 501(c)(3) issue for the benefit of the university.