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Fewer companies bid on leasing Alligator Alley
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It appears state transportation officials have had a bit of their work done for them.
Teams interested in bidding on a possible lease of Alligator Alley re-submitted statements of qualifications by a Wednesday deadline, and the list is slimmer than the one announced in June.
This is the second time the state has requested statements of qualifications from interested firms, following a round in June that officials said left too many questions unanswered.
Now, as Florida Department of Transportation officials scrutinize the new list, they have fewer firms to cull through before announcing a short list at the end of the month. Eight teams expressed interest during the first round, but just six threw their hats in the ring as of the Wednesday deadline.
“We’re not surprised at all,” said FDOT Special Counsel Clay McGonagill. “In fact, we had talked to all eight previously when we rebooted, and they seemed fully engaged.”
McGonagill said one of the two teams to drop out expressed interest in re-submitting, but missed the deadline.
He declined to say whether that team was Spanish toll operator Abertis Infrastructures or the Australian Macquarie Capital Group, which was one half of the team that took over the Chicago Skyway and the Indiana Toll Road.
Of the remaining six teams, a few added or removed firms from the list, but the major partners from each team remain the same.
The next step in the process will be for FDOT to narrow the list to a select number of firms invited to bid on the 78-mile toll road that connects Naples to Fort Lauderdale. The day after that list is announced on Aug. 20, the state is also expected to release a draft of the concession agreement.
McGonagill wouldn’t provide a sneak peek of what might be in that contract, but said the request for qualifications yields plenty of clues into what a concession agreement might look like.
Officials have said the winning bidder would be subject to some revenue sharing over the life of the 50- to 75-year lease, a departure from similar public-private partnerships in which other states have received only a lump payment at the start of the lease.
“We’re starting to see a lot more local interest in public-private partnerships,” said Sotiris Pagdadis, an infrastructure specialist and managing director of law firm McKenna, Long & Aldridge. “We’re just starting to see this process take hold in the U.S., and as it takes hold, the public will start to get used to it.”
But, in Southwest Florida, the outcry against a potential sale has only gotten louder as the state moves forward.
“The basic thing from our vantage point is Alligator Alley is a real gold mine for some company,” said Phineas Baxandall. “There’s a growing stream of toll payers. A private company is going to enjoy this virtual monopoly.”
Baxandall is an analyst for the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups, known as U.S. PIRG, and an outspoken critic of toll road privatization in the U.S.
When asked what it means to have fewer groups bidding on the road than one month ago, he said there is no way of knowing.
“There wasn’t full transparency the first time,” he said. “The public should have seen the first full offers. We should be able to see the full text of these bids. The public is going to be asked to give over control of this asset for generations.”
The release of team names on Tuesday went one step further than the first release, by providing a contact name and phone number for each team.
Pagdadis said, though, that the bidding firms have an established track record in the United States.
“They’re all very qualified teams,” he said. “They’ve all participated on different projects in different parts of the country.”
The six teams, with their firms, are:
-- Alligator Alley Development Partners — OHL Concesiones, a subsidiary of the Spanish company OHL Group, oversees the operations of airports, railways and 1,180 miles of toll roads in Spain and Latin America; Carlyle Infrastructure Partners LP, which Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle Group created in March 2006 to invest in transportation and water facilities;
-- Atlantia S.p.A. — Atlantia S.p.A., Italy’s largest toll road builder and operator, with 2,120 miles of roads under its care; and Autostrade per L’Italia S.p.A., the Italian concessionaire oversees 3,410 miles of toll roads in Europe;
-- Vinci Concessions — Vinci Concessions, a French company, operates 2,700 miles of roads in Europe and Canada; Cofiroute USA is a California-based company that develops high-tech toll collection systems; and Hubbard Construction Co. is an Orlando-based construction company and also a division of France-based Vinci;
-- A2 Transportation Partners — Brisa Auto-Estradas de Portugal, S.A., a 36-year-old Portuguese company is concessionaire for 652 miles of roads; Companhia de Concessoes Rodoviarias, a Brazilian holding company controls 900 roads of highways in Brazil; and JPMorgan IF Acquisitions LLC, a New York-based financial firm is one of the world’s oldest;
-- Everglades Parkway Partners — Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte SA, a Spanish firm is one half of the consortium that took over the Chicago Skyway and the Indiana Toll Road; and GS Global Infrastructure Partners I, LP, an infrastructure investment arm of Goldman Sachs, formed in 2006;
-- GVI-Lehman Alligator Alley Access Partners — Global Via Infraestructuras S.A. formed as a joint venture between Spanish construction group FCC and Spanish investment bank Caja Madrid; LB I Group Inc., a New York-based Lehman Brothers global banking firm; and GVI-Alltech O&M Joint Venture, a subsidiary of Parsons Brinckerhoff that operates and maintains electronic tolls.
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Governor Corzine in New Jersey smelled the political stink from his proposal to sell infrastructure and never even put it out for bid.
Just a few weeks ago, Pennsylvania turned down a $12 Billion Dollar deal by a vote of 185-12. Governor Rendell took a lot of flack for his proposal.
Governor Crist is NOT taking this to the Florida legislators. It will be decided by 14 members of the Budget Committee. Seven Senators and Seven Representatives.
Notice that EVERY bidder is a foreign corporation ... anxious to make a profit from US infrastructure.
Eye wide open people ... it is NOT going to stop with roads and bridges.
Cranston, Rhode Island sold their wastewater treatment plant. Chicago is currently underway in selling Midway Airport to foreign corporations. Remember the ports that were almost sold to Middle East companies?
Lou Dobbs has it right. If we sit by and watch this infrastructure sale go through, we can kiss our assets goodbye. Roadways, bridges, water treatment plants, wastewater treatment plants, airports.
When will YOU finally tell the government "Taxpayers paid for and OWN their public assets and want to continue to own them. NO SALE OF PUBLIC ASSETS!!!!!!"
Charlie Crist is turning out to be the worst thing that can happen to the Republican party in Florida. Can he do anything more to make people distrustful of their government? He certainly promotes policy for the good of 'big business' NOT for the public good.
The governor's "Government in the Sunshine" promotion turned out to be "Big Business Deals in the Shade".
Don't Blink, it will be America Owned and Operated by ____________________.
#1 Posted by intense on July 23, 2008 at 7:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Government in the Sunshine is a joke in Florida. The Legislature imposes the rule on "lesser" governing entities, but exempts itself. The Republican Party is bankrupt -- giving us the most ineffective president since Jimmy Carter and now Florida's worst governor in decades, maybe ever!
We've had nothing but scams out of this state administration. Phony insurance reform, a meager and mostly illusionary property tax rollback, Amendment #3, and now the proposed sale of assets to foreigners who might one day be seriously at odds with U.S. policy. Future income squandered today can only mean confiscatory tax rates in years to come.
Florida: Nice weather, world-class beaches, and a bunch of ethically-chalenged political slicksters running the show.
#2 Posted by bsdetector on July 23, 2008 at 8:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
bsdetector: Read Carl Hiaasen's books. Much of the humor in his fiction is taken from the strange truths of living here. Just wish we could have the poetically just endings.
#3 Posted by BlueTonguedVole on July 23, 2008 at 10:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It appears that the NDN has instituted a built- in censorship committee regardless of your peers (hello Orwell 1984). Anyways it is apparent that our politicians have indeed embraced the act of political prostituting. Common sense can infer that gas prices domestically are on an upward based model to become equivelent with those of Europeon countries. I can conclude that society is reverting back to the 'Robin Hood' saga-- taxes/toll. Nothing like coming back full circle, politically speaking. Where does this madness end? Food for thought
#4 Posted by sancho on July 24, 2008 at 1:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
“We’re starting to see a lot more local interest in public-private partnerships,” said Sotiris Pagdadis, an infrastructure specialist and managing director of law firm McKenna, Long & Aldridge. “We’re just starting to see this process take hold in the U.S., and as it takes hold, the public will start to get used to it.”
This to me is there way of saying (we are going to shaft you now get use to it.) I never thought I would see something like this come to pass in our country. Boy was wrong.
#5 Posted by chincieone on July 24, 2008 at 2:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Just to keep things in perspective, in spite of NO citizen support, our governor is pushing forward with leasing out our infrastructure. Disgusting.
#6 Posted by BigW on July 24, 2008 at 8:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Where in this article does it mention the governor and his intent?
#7 Posted by trehuger on July 24, 2008 at 8:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I see a great deal of legitimate criticism of this proposed lease, but does anyone know how to stop this from happening or is this just something the people are powerless to stop.
#8 Posted by reasonableguy on July 24, 2008 at 8:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The sadness of the deal is that years from now, they'll realize that it was a huge mistake and millions of tax dollars will be wasted to regain control of roads. Case of farsighted politics.
#9 Posted by Naplesheart on July 24, 2008 at 8:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well sunshinelover I like that you got my vote. LOL
#10 Posted by chincieone on July 24, 2008 at 11:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"Intense" has it right. This sell-out is only the beginning.
Who has the most toll activity in the U.S.? Texas with 38, followed by Florida with 29 projects. Third on the list from USDOT is Virginia with 13. So, we ALREADY have more than twice as many as any state other than Texas.
What is this Governor trying to do, make Florida number one in the nation? Not an honor I need to have bestowed on my state, thank you very much. Oh, wait, they won't even be owned by us ... the very taxpayers who already bought and paid for those roads. They will be owned and operated by a foreign corporation so that they will make a profit on our public roads.
Don't you wonder why these foreign companies are all paired up with an American company? It's so that they can call themselves a "Public Benefit" business and get tax breaks. They get TAX FREE bonds to buy OUR ASSETS. Using tax code 63-20, they can write off the asset in the first 15 years as long as the lease is longer than the life of the asset.
Also, these corporations are able to finance the 'purchase of US assets' using tax free bonds previously only available to government entities. Governments used those tax free bonds to build costly public projects such as roads and water treatments plants, airports,etc. Now, the government is bending over backwards to pave the way for private businesses to take over our assets.
Don't sit back and complain about this, people. STAND UP and SHOUT about it. If you blink, this road along with other roads will be sold. The lottery will be sold. Chicago is about to sell Midway Airport. Cranston, RI has already sold their wastewater treatment plant.
"Reasonable guy" asks if this is 'something the people are powerless to stop.' Only if they let it happen. Only if they watch it happen. Only if they don't speak up.
It CAN be stopped. Americans CAN demand ownership of their assets. DON'T wait until it is too late and then wonder what happened. It is right under your nose NOW!
This is the first attempt in the state to sell one of our assets. If you let this happen, more will follow.
#11 Posted by afbs1 on July 24, 2008 at 11:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Office of Governor Charlie Crist
State of Florida
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
Citizen Services Hotline: (850) 488-4441
Executive Office of the Governor Switchboard: (850) 488-7146
[Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time]
For individuals with hearing loss or speech disability:
1-850-922-7795 (TTY)
#12 Posted by cvb7873 on July 24, 2008 at 2:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It is not always about the money. Some times its about the principal of selling off ones assets. I am not so sure I would sell my Soul just to get ahead.
#13 Posted by chincieone on July 24, 2008 at 2:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Charlie's back from his European jaunt...about time we told him how we feel about selling one of our resources...I have an idea...let's sell him to a foreign country for all the things he has not done for Florida he promised..oh well we would not get much for him
#14 Posted by coolkraft on July 24, 2008 at 3:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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