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The Nevada Dept. of Business and Industry issued $650 million in tax-exempt bonds on behalf of the nonprofit. The expanded line opened in 2004 but suffered from technical problems and low ridership.
Now legislators are considering approving language that would allow the Nevada Dept. of Transportation to pursue a demonstration project on the busy Interstate 15/U.S. 95 interchange. By 2014, a $1-billion, 19-mi expressway could start reducing traffic in Las Vegas. It would be funded by the private sector, which would then charge drivers using the roadway.
Tolls would be automatically charged using an electronic toll collection system on a sliding scale based on the amount of congestion. No toll booths or stopping would be required. The proposal is part of a P3 exploratory effort at Nevada Dept. of Transportation known as the Pioneer Program.
One type of P3 that is gaining popularity during times of tight municipal budgets is lease-back arrangements for public buildings. Two are under way in Southern Nevada.
The city of Las Vegas is working with Cleveland-based developer Forest City Enterprises Inc. to build a new $146-million, eight-story City Hall for the price of monthly lease payments. Meanwhile, the Las Vegas Metro Police Dept. is consolidating its administrative operations in a central 390,000-sq-ft campus being built to suit by Fine Properties LLC of Las Vegas.
The arrangement is ideal, says John Krueger, director of logistics for the Las Vegas Sheriff’s Dept. “We are a police agency, not a construction agency. We don’t have the staff to do development.”
The win-win scenario delivers a custom facility to a cash-strapped agency years before it could afford the capital investment, and the developer gets a guaranteed long-term tenant.
Useful Sources
Learn more about ADOT’s P3 initiative at www.azdot.gov/highways/Projects/Public_Private_Partnerships
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