| Location |
Greater Richmond , Virginia |
| PPP Option |
DBFO Real Toll, with 63-20 public benefit corporation financing |
| Mode |
Tollroad |
| Description |
The Pocahontas Parkway (Route 895) is an 8.8-mile tolled highway seven miles south of Richmond, Virginia. Four-lane road connects Chippenham Parkway at I-95 in Chesterfield County with Interstate 295 south of the Richmond International Airport in Henrico County. Construction began in the fall of 1998 and the Parkway was opened to traffic in stages beginning in May 2002. The facility includes high-level bridge over the James River and an interchange at Laburnum Avenue.
After 18 months of negotiation between the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and Transurban (USA), a private Australian toll road operator with subsidiaries in the U.S., Transurban executed an Asset Purchase Agreement with the Pocahontas Parkway Association (PPA) and entered into the Amended and Restated Comprehensive Agreement ("ARCA") with VDOT on June 29, 2006. Under the terms of those agreements, Transurban has acquired the sole rights to enhance, manage, operate, maintain and collect tolls on the Parkway for a period of 99 years. Transurban has also defeased all of PPA’s underlying debt. |
| Sponsor |
VA DOT and 63-20 corporation Pocahontas Parkway Association (PPA), established to finance the Pocahontas Parkway project.
|
| Cost |
Original construction: $381 million
2006 Long Term Lease: $548 million and the construction of a 1.58-mile, four-lane extension to Richmond International Airport, pending the award of a $150 TIFIA credit. |
| Type of Finance |
Financing for Transurban’s long term lease is comprised of:
- $195 equity and subordinated debt proved by Transurban
- $420 in senior debt provided by DEPFA Bank of Ireland, Banco Espirito Santo de Investimento of Spain, and Bayerische Hypo-Vereins Bank of Germany
Plans call for a $150 million TIFIA loan to be contributed after financial closes as a mezzanine facility.
The TIFIA funds would be used to refinance approximately $95 million of the long-term senior bank debt, and pay for $7 million needed to upgrade the electronic tolling systems and approximately $48 million towards the construction of the airport connector.
The original financing package was comprised of:
- $354 million 63-20 corporation tax exempt toll revenue bonds
- $9 million in federal funds for design costs
- $18 million in SIB loans
|
| Revenue Sources |
Tolls |
| Project Delivery / Contract Method |
Design Build
|
| Private Design Build Partner |
Built by a joint venture of Fluor Enterprise and Morrison Knudsen (now Washington Group) with oversight from VDOT.
|
| Underwriters |
Bear Stearns / Lehman Bros. |
| Project Advisors |
Nossaman, Guthner, Knox & Elliott, LLP
Christian Barton
Public Resources Advisory Group |
| Lenders |
Bondholders |
| Physical Status |
Partial opening, May 2002. Complete opening, September 2002.
|
| Financial Status |
NA
|
| Innovations |
First construction project implemented under Virginia's Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 (PPTA).The Pocahontas Parkway was only the second transportation project nationwide to be financed through a 63-20 corporation.
This creative financing approach is why the Pocahontas Parkway could be built without a 15 year delay to assemble financing. Only $27 million of the Parkway’s total $324 million price tag came from public funds. The vast majority of the funding has been raised through the sale of private bonds, which minimized the risk to both the localities and the taxpayers.
The proposed TIFIA loan would represent the first time that eligible TIFIA projects costs would include the cost of refunding long-term project debt. |
| Related Links / Articles |
http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/constrich-895.asp
http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/constrich-895facts.asp
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov///innovativefinance/ifq62.htm
www.pocahontasparkway.com
SEP-15 application
|
| Contacts |
Tel: (804) 440.7599
E-mail: jwa@pocahontasparkway.com
James W. Atwell
Pres., Pocahontas Parkway Association (63-20)
Barbara W. Reese
Chief Financial Officer
VDOT
Tel: (804) 786-5128
Mr. Michael Kulper
Transurban (USA) Development Inc. |
