Public Buildings

In the public buildings and social infrastructure sector, Hawkins has a leading role as owner’s lead counsel in facilities procurement and contracting on a design-build and P3 basis. We represented the State of California on the $400 million award-winning New Long Beach Court Building project, the seminal P3 social infrastructure transaction in the United States, and are currently representing Howard County, Maryland, on the first East Coast P3 court building project. We have also served or are serving as owner’s lead counsel for major public building design-build or P3 projects for the State of New York ($1.5 billion Javits Convention Center Expansion Project and $500m+ life sciences building project), the City of Houston (proposed $750 million police headquarters and court complex), Travis County, Texas (proposed $300 million court building), New York City (proposed $250 million school boiler replacement program) and New Jersey City University ($50 million student residence hall project).

In public finance, social infrastructure has long been a core element of our general obligation bond practice, and our firm has served as bond counsel or underwriters’ counsel on more than 140 municipal finance transactions for public buildings and facilities, valued at over $14 billion.

Our client services to municipal governments on public buildings projects include business case studies of possible alternative delivery methods; real estate and financial structuring legal advice; and RFQ, RFP and contract drafting and negotiations. Hawkins is a co-founder of the Performance Based Buildings Coalition, the leading national advocacy group for public building P3's, and on behalf of the PBBC has co-authored proposed legislation to facilitate the procurement and P3 financing of social infrastructure on a tax-exempt basis. We have also drafted several bills authorizing the procurement of public buildings on a design-build and a P3 basis in New York and California. In order to avoid potential conflicts of interest, Hawkins represents only public agencies in its public building sector procurement and contract practice.

Hawkins public finance attorneys are industry leaders in the issuance of tax-exempt notes, bonds, lease revenue obligations and certificates of participation for public buildings and facilities, including:

Administration buildings
Community centers
Fire stations
Justice facilities
Laboratories
Mental health facilities
Office buildings
Police headquarters
Prison laboratories
Public works facilities
Recreational facilities
Schools
State park facilities

The California social infrastructure justice projects on which we have served as bond counsel or underwriters’ counsel include the Los Angeles Regional Crime Laboratory, the North Kern State Prison, the New Stockton Courthouse, the Pleasant Valley State Prison and the Solano Jail.

The following is a representative list of the firm’s engagements as owners’ lead counsel for project procurements in the public buildings industry:

Houston, Texas (New P3 Court Building and Police Headquarters)
Howard County Maryland (New P3 Court Building)
New Jersey City University (Residence Hall P3 Project)
New York City Economic Development Corporation (Various Public Buildings and Facilities Design-Build Projects)
New York City School Construction Authority (Boiler Replacement P3 Project)
State of California Administrative Office of the Courts (New Long Beach Court Building P3 Project)
State of New York Dormitory Authority (Life Sciences Building P3 Project)
State of New York Empire State Development (Javits Convention Center Expansion Design-Build Project)