Va. port seeks competing bids for terminals
| Bridges |
The Virginia Port Authority has released additional information about warehouse developer CenterPoint's proposal to operate VPA's three marine terminals in the Hampton Roads region, an inland terminal in Front Royal, and a proposed new terminal at Craney Island.
CenterPoint’s unsolicited bid for a 60-year concession, was made under Virginia's Public Private Transportation Act of 1995, which allows businesses to make bids for existing or proposed transportation assets.
The port authority also said that in accordance with that law it would accept any competing and compliant proposals it receives in its Norfolk office by 10 a.m., July 27.
CenterPoint's bid is sweeping, with the Chicago-area firm seeking to take over all three major public terminals in the nation’s sixth-largest container port, after Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York, Oakland, and Savannah, Ga. The facility in Portsmouth, Va. opened last year by APM Terminals would be the only Hampton Roads-area container terminal outside of CenterPoint’s control.
CenterPoint is 97-percent-owned by the California Public Employee Retirement System. It said it would make a $500 million upfront cash payment and total payments with present value of $3.5 billion, and total value of $8.9 billion over the 60-year life of the concession.
Paul S. Fisher, president of CenterPoint, in a letter to Jerry A. Bridges, VPA's executive director, said, “We desire a true strategic partnership. We are proposing a concession that would fully align CenterPoint's interests with the authority and employ and incentivize your operating affiliate, Virginia International Terminal Inc.
“A partnership with our firm can serve the interests of the host communities, the region and the commonwealth. CenterPoint does not simply bring capital. Our firm's experience, skill and relationships will benefit the Port of Virginia and assure its competitive position and growth,” Fisher said. CenterPoint has developed or is in the process of developing a number of inland intermodal terminals.
Last year CenterPoint announced plans to build a new warehouse in Suffolk, Va., and it said its Chicagoland warehouses may benefit from completion of major rail improvements plans — Norfolk Southern’s Heartland Corridor and CSX’s Capital Gateway.
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| Bray |
The company said it wants to “exploit CenterPoint's ability to attract additional customers to Virginia, including importers, exporters and manufacturers that want to locate in the company's existing and prospective intermodal distribution parks complementing the Port of Virginia.”
In documents filed with the state, CenterPoint said its advisors include the law firms of Mayer Brown and Kaufman & Canoles, as well as JPMorgan, and consultant A.T. Kearney.
Former VPA Executive Director J. Robert Bray, who retired in 2007 after 39 years at the agency, is a senior advisor for the Kaufman & Canoles’ consulting arm. In an article in the Newport News Daily Press, Bray is described as one of the “key architects” of the CenterPoint offer.
The CenterPoint proposal is detailed here. ' Chris Dupin