Corey Boock Discusses Best Practices for Successful Progressive P3s
Corey Boock was extensively quoted in the P3 Bulletin article “Getting The Best Out Of PDA: Is it All It’s Cracked Up To Be?” (subscription required). The article – which provides an overview of the discussion of a panel Corey participated in at this year’s P3C conference – explores how Progressive P3s and the PDA tool have been prominent in the industry, with numerous innovative projects in various stages of development across North America employing them.
One of the key topics covered in the discussion was the importance of having a champion on the agency side and the developer side to help shepherd a project through. As noted by the members of the panel at P3C, many of the issues that have happened in the PDA phase of a Progressive P3 arise when the project turns to discussions around dollars and cents. At this point, collaboration between parties can become difficult.
Discussing the best practices he has learned on successful projects, Corey said, “We’ve seen some really great successes with this tool, and positive lessons learned – but also some stumbles that have taught us things. It starts with champions on both sides, setting the mentality that this is a collective effort to reach a goal.”
Continuing his commentary, he added, “Many of the issues that have happened in Progressive P3s arise when the project inevitably turns to discussions around dollars and cents. At this point, collaboration can fall by the wayside, and instead of problems getting solved, they get divided up and the relationship breaks down.”
He continued, “The reality is if you can’t come to terms on price and financing structure, it’s an ‘our’ problem. It’s having that mindset and willingness to do it. The public agency understands that you’ve invited them into the kitchen to help you mix the ingredients, not just taste it at the end. Embrace that.”
The article also provided an overview of a segment of the panel discussion where participants offered advice to an owner at the early stage of project development – including how the owner can navigate the spectrum of models effectively and assess when the progressive or PDA approach makes sense and will create value.
On this topic, Corey stated, “It is very much a question of what are your goals for the project and what are the characteristics of the project.”
He continued, “A PDA to take a highway facility from point A to B – if it’s largely baked through environmental approvals or is super simple – might not provide much value. However, if it’s a complex social infrastructure project that may have some core infrastructure assets and some residential or retail development associated with it, that might be the epitome of a great idea to encourage collaboration.”
