Public-Private Partnerships
P&L Investments and its affiliates, including Value Recovery Group (VRG) II, has
become one of the foremost brownfield investors that utilize a public-private
partnership format. P&L has teamed with a number of government entities (e.g.,
Gahanna Ohio) in acquiring and remediating government-owned and/or controlled
brownfields, whereby the government participates in the profits and/or the
equity of the project. In the Gahanna Ohio project, for example, P&L’s affiliate formed a partnership with the City of Gahanna whereby the city receives 25% of the profits and P&L receives 75% of the profits. The property was transferred to a nonprofit third-party, and the city and P&L worked together to receive State and Federal grant money. P&L’s affiliate managed the property, cleaned up the environmental problems, and later marketed and sold or leased the parcels.
In Gahanna, P&L’s affiliate purchased the land surrounding the landfill at
depressed prices. With the assistance of $3.2 Million in State and Federal
grant monies, the
landfill’s environmental issues were addressed, and P&L’s
affiliate converted the landfill to a golf course. CB Richard Ellis was retained
to market the site, now known as “Central Park of Gahanna”. After just one year,
P&L’s affiliate received an offer to sell the land surrounding the landfill at
more than a 100% profit. The city received 25% of this profit, and it enjoys not
only a remediated landfill, but a pristine new golf course surrounded by new
employers.
Superfund Sites
Even when a public-private partnership is not formally created, P&L always works closely with the local government. With a Superfund site in Pennsylvania, for example, P&L transferred the Superfund site to a government entity that received a $1 Million State grant, and the local government forgave over $1 Million in unpaid real estate taxes. The Superfund site was cleaned up by P&L and its expert environmental consultants, and then the site was transferred back to P&L. P&L then rezoned the site to a residential use. This is reportedly the first Superfund site in the country that was converted to a residential community. Today it consists of more than 180 townhouses in a pristine creek-side development.
