Public Private Partnership (PPP)

One of the advantages of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) is they can bring needed projects to fruition that traditional delivery methods cannot, especially in difficult economic times. Such as was the case with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

 

For nearly 40 years, WMATA has been operating out of a bus garage in Alexandria Virginia, built in 1945, called the Royal Street Bus Garage. Needless to say, things have changed over 40 years and the garage has become functionally and operationally obsolete. Furthermore, being in the center of Alexandria, the value of the property and use of the surrounding property has changed significantly. For the past 6-8 years, Metro and the City of Alexandria have been looking for a replacement site.  Over these years, 11 different sites have been considered, but without success. 

 

Recognizing this fact, as well as having significant experience with WMATA and bus garages, Wendel facilitated an entrepreneurial, private development team that came to WMATA with a Public Private Partnership proposal. They acquired a key piece of property and offered a design/build turn-key approach as well as offering various financing options. Only when this site on Cinder Bed Road in nearby Fairfax County was added for consideration, were all affected jurisdictions able to agree on a site.

 

The end result will be a brand new bus garage, on a new site, in a time frame that will be saving WMATA six years of time, and will be more cost effective than using “traditional” delivery methods. This new facility will allow WMATA to meet the public transportation needs of the surrounding communities without infringing on their quality of life.  The final facility and administrative complex will accommodate 160 diesel, electric-hybrid and CNG buses.

An added benefit is vacating a valuable urban site and making it available for development.

 

The project is currently in the conceptual design phase.