Sandy Kanter practices in the areas of infrastructure development and construction, providing specialized expertise in utility relocations, right of way acquisition, and cooperative agreements (between governmental and other stakeholders such as utility owners) for both design-build and other types of public-private partnership procurements.
With nearly three decades of legal experience Ms. Kanter has represented public project owners on dozens of successful, often award winning projects.
She is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
Representative Work
Washington State Department of Transportation – Urban Corridors Design-Build Program. Member of the team advising WSDOT in its procurement of design-build contracts for highway projects within the Puget Sound Urban Corridor Program. Projects include expansions to the I-405 corridor, expansion of I-5, and replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct in downtown Seattle. Duties have included advising the Attorney General's office in strategic planning for utility relocation risks, providing assistance to develop contract provisions and technical specifications addressing utility relocations, and drafting standardized memoranda of understanding to be entered into with utility owners.
Florida Department of Transportation – Port of Miami Tunnel. Member of the team that advised on the procurement of a PPP to design and construct a bridge and tunnel project linking the Port of Miami facilities on Dodge Island with MacArthur Causeway and the I-395. Work included drafting utility relocation provisions and technical requirements for the concession agreement. Financing for the project closed in October 2009. The project was named the 2007 Project of the Year by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association and the 2009 Americas PPP Deal of the Year by Project Finance International.
Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas – (Houston METRO). Part of the team advising on contracts for the METRO Solutions Phase 2 Program to develop four light rail lines, with an estimated cost of $1.46 billion for design, construction, and supply of vehicles. Work included advising on cooperative agreements with utility owners impacted by the projects. Project received a notice to proceed in May 2009.
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority – Eastside Light Rail Project. Leader of the team that assisted the authority to develop and negotiate cooperative agreements with local agencies, utility owners and Caltrans for a 6-mile light rail transit line. The $898 million project includes a 1.8 mile underground tunnel and 8 stations between Union Station and East L.A. and opened for service in November 2009.
Texas Department of Transportation – CDA Program. Member of the team assisting TxDOT in its statewide comprehensive development agreement program. Work included drafting comprehensive development agreements and utility adjustment technical provisions as well as revising and updating standard master utility adjustment agreement forms, for the $2.02 billion North Tarrant Express project in Dallas and Tarrant Counties, the IH 635 Managed Lanes project in Dallas, the $1 billion DFW Connector design-build project in Tarrant County, and the 41-mile $1.36 billion SH 130, Segments 5 & 6 toll road between San Antonio and Austin. Also assisted with utility agreement and design-build contract administration matters on the SH 45 SE turnpike project in Central Texas.
Texas Department of Transportation – SH 130 Turnpike (Segments 1-4). Member of the team that developed procurement and contract documents for the $1.1 billion SH 130 turnpike, awarded to Lone Star Infrastructure in late May 2002. Responsibilities included strategic planning with respect to utility relocations, drafting relevant portions of the contract documents, and drafting standard form utility relocation agreements. In 2007, the Federal Highway Administration awarded the project its Excellence in Utility Relocation and Accommodation Award in the Innovation category.
Colorado Department of Transportation/Regional Transit District – Transportation Expansion Project (T-REX). Duties for this $1.224 billion highway and light rail project included advising the client on federal reimbursement laws and new state legislation addressing utility relocations on design-build projects, as well as providing expert assistance in the drafting of the design-build contract, master cooperative agreements and utility relocation technical provisions. In 2006, the Federal Highways Administration awarded the project its Excellence in Utility Relocation and Accommodation Awards in the Innovation and Subsurface Utility Engineering categories.
Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority – Alameda Corridor. Leader of the team that assisted in relocating over 500 utility facilities for this $2.4 billion 20-mile rail and truck corridor. Responsibilities included strategic planning, drafting of design-build contract and scope of work provisions, extensive analysis of cost liability issues, negotiating and drafting cooperative agreements, and advising the Authority with respect to contractor claims.
MGM Mirage and Park Place Entertainment – The Las Vegas Monorail. Responsible (together with local counsel) for coordinating acquisition of right of way for the project from 14 property owners located along the Las Vegas Strip. Successfully closed all 14 acquisitions simultaneously with the closing of the related bond financing transaction.
City of Coronado – SR75/282 Transportation Corridor Project. Assisted with evaluation of the North Island Access Tunnel, one of the solutions proposed as part of this project to reduce traffic congestion on Coronado Island, in San Diego Bay. Provided advice regarding responsibility for utility relocation costs based on examination of the relevant documentation for each facility. The project is currently in the planning stages.