Infra Insight Blog

City of Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard announced today that WMB Heartland Justice Partners was selected as the Preferred Offeror to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the new Marion County Consolidated Justice Facility.  WMB Heartland Justice Partners is comprised of equity members Walsh Investors, LLC, Meridiam Infrastructure Indy Justice, LLC, and Balfour Beatty Investments, Inc.

In making the announcement, Mayor Ballard said of the project: It will solve so many problems, so many problems that contribute to our existing facilities being outdated, inefficient and unsafe.  And in touting the delivery method, he said: It is important to know that this payment is performance based, meaning WMB Heartland Justice Partners will be measured on a monthly basis on their ability to meet the agreed upon service, performance and availability standards.

The 35 year DBFOM project is at the vanguard of municipal availability payment deals in the United States and is the currently the largest social infrastructure availability payment project in North America.  The facility will include:

• A new criminal courthouse facility for the Marion County superior court, including 28 new courtrooms and 10 hearing rooms.
• A Marion County detention center with a total of 3,000 beds, including medical and mental health accommodations.
• A community corrections facility with a total of 960 beds.
• Office Space to house the Marion County Sheriff’s Office operations.

The estimated cost of construction of the justice center is $408 million, considerably lower than previously speculated construction costs ranging from $500 - $700 million.  The annual service fee is just over $3 million below the City’s affordability limit.  Commercial close is anticipated for March 2015. Project substantial completion is scheduled for May 2018.

The new facility will be sited on 46 acres of brownfield redevelopment land on the western half of the former General Motors stamping plant.

The other two Offerors on the project were:

• Indy Justice Partners, with equity members Fengate Capital Management Ltd. and AECOM Global Fund I LP
• Plenary Edgemoor Justice Partners, with equity members Plenary Group USA Ltd. and Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate LLC

More information about the project is available at the project website.

Renderings of the proposed Marion County Justice Center can be found here.

The project’s stakeholders, including the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office, the Marion County Sheriff Office and the Marion County Circuit Court, selected WMB Heartland Justice Partners as the preferred bidding team for the project.