Florida's Alligator Alley could fall into international hands (One of the vultures is Carlyle Group)

[seafan]

Once again, the greedy global corporatists are trying to steal our infrastructure out from under us and sell it to the highest bidder. And right up there at the top of the heap is, you guessed it, The Carlyle Group.



SPECIAL REPORT: Alligator Alley could fall into international hands



GREG KAHN / Daily News


By LESLIE WILLIAMS
June 14, 2008

Little has changed on Alligator Alley since it was completed in 1969.

It was expanded to four lanes from two in the late 1980s and early ‘90s. Wildlife crossings were added at the time to reopen the flow of some of the biological diversity in the Everglades. A repaving project is under way.
But the biggest change planned in the alley’s 40-year history may be a little harder to detect with the naked eye.
In April, the Florida Department of Transportation made public its intentions to put the alley up for rent, and the cacophony of detractors has only gotten louder since.

Among the arguments that critics have made to state officials: tolls will be hiked to $10, funding for Everglades restoration will be neglected or income from the alley’s lease will be spent outside Collier and Broward counties.
With the recent announcement of the eight teams looking to lease the 78-mile road, alley-watchers are a little closer to understanding what the Naples-to-Fort Lauderdale road might look like under private custody.

But not a lot.
The statements of qualification submitted to the state by those eight teams are a preliminary step in the bid process, and will be the basis by which the state comes up with a short list by the end of the month. The short-listed teams then will be invited to put together a proposal for a lease of the alley, expected to last 50 to 75 years. ..... By projecting a $10 toll for 50 years from now, rising to that amount over time, DOT interim Assistant Secretary of Finance and Administration Bill Thorp has said the alley could be worth $976 million in annual net revenue in 50 years.

Last year’s revenues were $23.5 million.
Some Collier County legislators are arguing that the state should retain control of an asset capable of generating that much revenue. Collier County commissioners have even suggested allowing Broward and Collier counties to pay off the remaining $40 million or so in bond debt and taking over the road themselves.
At Friday’s meeting of the Metropolitan Planning Organization, a countywide transportation agency, critics from the Citizens Transportation Coalition turned out to urge the MPO board to pass a resolution condemning the alley’s lease.

.....

The MPO board joins a steadily growing group of Southwest Floridians opposed to the lease.
State Rep. Matt Hudson, R-Naples, said some concerns were assuaged after a conversation with Kopelousos, but he remains opposed to the concept.
“Quite frankly, our sovereignty is at stake,” Hudson said, adding that he is worried about the state’s ability to enforce the terms of a contract while dealing with a foreign firm.

And most of the firms are.

Out of the 17 companies comprising eight bidding teams, six companies are based in the U.S. Some of those have strong ties overseas, such as Orlando-based Hubbard construction, a division of Vinci Concessions, the French company Hubbard is partnering with for this deal.
“I think we ought to do everything possible to have an American company do it,” said U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers. “We’re in a time right now where, for security reasons, for economic reasons, we need to make sure these project dollars are being given to American companies.”

.....

Carlyle Infrastructure, part of the Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle Group, was created in 2006 and hasn’t yet made its first major investment. G.S. Global Infrastructure Partners, an arm of Goldman Sachs, was announced in early 2008, and is still getting off the ground.
Both companies are partnering with well-established Spanish firms to make a bid for the alley.
If the DOT continues with the deal, eventually choosing a firm and executing a contract, there would be some legislative oversight. However, the review would be by the Legislative Budget Commission, and not the entire Legislature.

.....

Here are the 8 teams hoping to take over our infrastructure:

The Alligator Alley Development Partners

• OHL Concessions; Spain; 1,180 miles of toll roads in Spain and Central America; gross revenues in 2006 were $513 million.

• Carlyle Infrastructure; Washington, D.C.; created in 2006, no significant infrastructure investments to date; the fund reached $1.15 billion in late 2007.

___

Abertis Infraestructures S.A.

• Abertis Infrastructures; Spain; operates 2,280 miles of toll roads in Europe and Latin America; capital and reserves exceed $7 billion.

___

Atlantia S.P.A.

• Atlantia S.P.A.; Italy; runs 2,120 miles of roads in Italy, Poland and Chile; capital worth in excess of $22 billion.

• Electric Transaction Consultants Corp.; Texas; created toll collection systems for Texas Turnpike Authority, Illinois State Toll Highway Authority and Washington State Department of Transportation.

___

A2 Transportation Partners

• Brisa Auto-Estradas; Portugal; runs 652 miles of toll roads; assets of nearly $7 billion, total revenues in 2006 were $900 million.

• Companhia de Concessoes Rodoviarias; Brazil; controls 900 miles of roads in Brazil; $2.5 billion in capital; brought in $1.4 billion in revenue last year.

• JP Morgan; New York; deals in everything from real estate to investment banking, has assets of $1.6 trillion.

___

Macquarie Capital Group Limited

• Macquarie; Australia; with the Spanish firm Cintra, Macquarie helped take over the first-ever privately leased existing toll roads in the U.S., the Chicago Skyway and the Indiana Toll Road; total assets are $167 billion.

___

Vinci Concessions Development

• Vinci Concessions; France; operates 2,700 miles of roads.

• Cofiroute; California-based; currently developing GPS-based toll-collection system for 8,000 miles of German motorways, part of a $7.5 billion contract.

• Hubbard Group; Orlando (is also a division of Vinci Concessions); with sister company, Blythe Construction, Hubbard brings in $450 million in construction revenue each year.

___

Everglades Parkway Partners

• Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte S.A.; Spain; aside from the Chicago Skyway and Indiana Toll Road, Cintra operates Highway 407 in Ontario and is helping develop the Trans-Texas Corridor for $1.3 billion.

* G.S. Global Infrastruture Partners; New York; formed by Goldman Sachs in 2006, the $6.5 billion fund is still getting off the ground.

___

GVI Alligator Alley Access Partners

• Corporacion Financiera Caja de Madrid; Spain; second largest savings bank in Spain, with $250 billion in assets.

• FCC Construccion; Spain; administers toll concessions in Spain and Mexico, has $36.5 billion in assets.

• GVI-Alltech O&M Joint Venture, partnership of Global Vision International, United Kingdom, and Alltech, of Kentucky. GVI sends volunteers on conservation and environmental expeditions across the globe. Alltech, a bioscience firm, primarily develops animal feed.

[madfloridian]

1. Not just Alligator Alley...Sunshine Bridge, other toll roads.

Florida may lease toll roads, bridges to private investors.

TAMPA - Faced with a $2.5 billion budget shortfall over the next two years, Florida leaders are considering selling 50-year leases on some state toll roads and bridges in exchange for large sums of cash from private investors.

In a preliminary study, the Florida's Department of Transportation estimated a 50-year lease on Tampa's Sunshine Skyway Bridge could be worth $1.3 billion if investors were allowed to set tolls at "market rates." The study used the example of the SunPass toll, which would double in the first, fourth and 10th years of the deal, climbing from 75 cents to $5 within a decade on the Skyway.

Florida would follow the lead of other places including Indiana, Chicago and San Francisco, which have made billions from similar deals to sell road leases to private entities. Florida's $8 billion-a-year road construction budget faces challenges such as declining gasoline tax revenue and higher materials costs.

Also it is believed that this parkway up the middle of the state is to be privatized. Not sure of its latest status.

Florida to "help" environment by building a toll road up the rural center of the state.

Growth is coming; it is here,'' Dantzler said. "In the next 25 years another 6 million people will be living south of Intestate 4; 1.5 million will be in the heartland … The best approach is a (road) plan that can protect against rural sprawl, which would fragment environmental areas and disrupt wildlife corridors.''

....There were hints by both that the big landowners along the route might be willing to a trade right-of-way for the toll road in exchange for concentrated development rights on portions of their properties - lowering the cost of the road even further. The land among the owners in the group totals about 1 million acres. Dantzler said the vast majority would be kept undeveloped or in light use.

If we do nothing, we are going to see sprawl anyway,'' Dantzler said.

That is the goal. To get government out of the business of building infrastructure and turning it over to private even foreign companies.

[Snarkoleptic]

2. Chicago led the way on the path to shame.

Earlier this year, Chicago sold the right to operate the Chicago Skyway Toll Bridge for the next 99 years for an up-front payment of $1.83 billion. The sale to Chicago-based Skyway Concession Co. is the first privatization of an existing toll road in the United States and is causing many state and local governments to take another look at their toll roads and other infrastructure assets.

http://americancityandcounty.com/mag/government_us_city_first/

[sharesunited]

6. Mayor for life Richie Daley is one disturbed dude.

I knew it when he closed Miegs Field and ripped up the runways while the matter was still being litigated.

[alfredo]

3. There is no first amendment on private property.

[Carnea]

4. Little has changed????

It used to be a two lane road (one in each direction) with no lights and no fences to prevent alligator and panthers from getting hit by cars. (And attacking motorists who broke down) Besides the tourists occasionally eaten it was also notorious for some of the most vicious head on collision at 100 mph ever see. (Ass someone who drove home 1am Tuesday morning from a Monday Night Jets Dolphins game back in the late eighties. I can assure you that it was a wild ride indeed.) Needless to say it is now a proper highway.

Florida has no business selling of it's assets. I know it's a tough budget year with the economy. But honestly it has plenty of fat in the budget and a ton of sales tax loopholes it can close first. Can't keep spending like a Clinton was in the White House.

[Monk06]

5. The only reason these large International Corporations are buying

Publicly owned assets is to use them for
collateral against massive borrowing to
finance other private ventures.

The logic goes like this where > means converted
to

Government/Citizen Owned Asset > Privately Owned/Publicly Traded Asset
> Public ally Traded Equity > Leveraged Asset Based Security > New Equity
Bubble which the taxpayer will pay for when all the profit is skimmed off.

Modern Slash and Burn Capitalism means profit accrues to Capital, debt accrues
to the consumer.