Quote:
Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary
ironically, that new bus barn is a P3 development at a cost of 174 million dollars. The private partner is "Plenary Infrastructure Calgary LP is a consortium of Plenary Group (Canada) Ltd. and PCL Investments Canada Inc. Other team members include PCL Construction Management Inc. and Johnson Controls Canada LP."
did not hear a single peep about entering a partnership with a private company about this project which is a design, build, finance and maintain model (DBFM)
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P3's (Public-Private-Partnerships), or alternatively called DBFMs or DBFs, are becoming a pretty common procurement method across Canada. They're widely used in Ontario. It's still relatively new in Alberta, however, but slowly gaining momentum. Other projects in Calgary include the SW Ring Road and the Calgary Courts Centre. P3's are a way for municipalities / governments to get projects built without having to fund them upfront; they're paid back over, say, 35 years and the private companies design, build, operate and maintain them for the city or government. The consortium teams assume lots of the risk, as well.
If you're suggesting there's nefarious or secretive backstories behind them (I can't tell if you are), it's not like that at all. There's still a regimented selection process because there's public money involved.