Public Private Partnerships

The collaboration between public entities and the private sector to create new projects with substantial economic development and community impacts used to be extraordinary and rare. Today’s challenging economic climate makes the public private partnership an indispensible tool for development. Assembling the right team of people who have the necessary technical skills and experience can be, in and of itself, a daunting task. You don’t just need a lawyer; you need a “business thought” partner to help you put together a team to address the design, construction, operation, management and/or finance of these revenue generating public infrastructure facilities and projects. Because these deals take place under the sharp focus of media/public scrutiny, you also need to consider governmental affairs, public relations and rules governing public disclosures and interaction with public officials. That’s where the strategic planning/business consulting services of the Ioppolo Law Group come in.

The Ioppolo Law Group can be that business consultant for government or private sector participants in Public Private Partnerships. What we bring to the public private partnership process is the ability to dream with one eye open, to help envision a project broadly and then to help the team reduce that vision to something that is practical, economical and achievable. More than strategic planning, we think of it as strategic visioning. From there, we can work with either the governmental or private sector partner to bring together the right team and help manage the development and implementation process so the vision we started with can be realized.

Lead by Frank S. Ioppolo Sr.*, the former Executive Vice President of Business Affairs and General Counsel for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, the Ioppolo Law Group can provide unparalleled insights into successfully visioning and implementing innovative public private partnerships. Mr. Ioppolo Sr.’s experience includes leading business and/or legal teams at Disney in such landmark public private partnerships as:

Celebration, Florida, a master-planned community that uniquely integrates education, healthcare, public parks, technology, residential and commercial development.
The New Amsterdam Theatre and New York’s Times Square Redevelopment.
The US Military’s Shades of Green hospitality development at Walt Disney World in Florida.
The Disneyland, California expansion, including simultaneous negotiations with the cities of Anaheim and Long Beach.
Establishment of the Disney Cruise Line including acquisition and development of an island in the Bahamas to serve as a private venue for Disney Cruise Line passengers and structuring/negotiating Public Private economic incentive packages with the Bahamian government, and the Italian Government in connection with nearly $1 Billion in financing for construction of the Disney Cruise Line ships by an Italian shipyard.
Various road and utility projects within the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
The development of Disneyland Paris.

Complementing this is Frank Ioppolo, Jr.’s experience as an attorney representing private businesses in connection with their evaluation of the economic incentives available from state and local governmental bodies for expansion and relocation of business operations. In addition, as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Seminole County Regional Chamber of Commerce and a member of its executive committee for over 5 years, Mr. Ioppolo, Jr. has been involved with the efforts of public sector governmental bodies in seeking to secure new businesses for economic development purposes within the Central Florida community. In these roles, he has developed key relationships at the highest levels of government and community organizations tasked with economic development and the public private partnerships that are often created to effectuate these activities.

With experience working with both the governmental and private sector partners, and, more importantly, having the business perspectives developed working as senior officers in corporations, members of the Ioppolo Law Group are well situated to assist clients with the strategic visioning that is critical to the success of public private partnerships. This includes:

big picture conceptualization and early planning,
early development and construction planning,
early development and construction planning,
evaluation and development of finance options,
assisting in selection of the best consultants for each specific project,
project negotiation,
governmental relations strategies,
necessary legislative analysis,
addressing privatization, concession, infrastructure and lease issues,
public relations strategies,
exit/termination strategies,
building and project implementation, and
identification and development of value added and alternative revenue opportunities.

Bringing together four decades of business and legal experience, the Ioppolo Law Group offers vast business experience to public agencies or private parties, domestic or foreign, seeking to successfully envision and develop a public private partnership. The Ioppolo Law Group limits its business consulting practice to those matters which, after consultation with potential clients, we believe are best suited to our skills and experience.

* Not admitted in Florida. Mr. Ioppolo Sr. acts as a business consultant and NOT as an attorney. He practiced law as a member of the bar of the State of New York and as a certified in house counsel in Florida for more than 40 years.