Things To Consider When Negotiating a Fair Deal Structure in Public-Private Partnerships

Posted by Retail Attractions Blog on July 30, 2018 in Blog | No Comments

Whenever you’re negotiating a contract, you want to get a fair deal. And so does the group you’re negotiating with. “Fairness” is a subjective term, though. It’s going to mean something different to different people. If you want to negotiate a fair deal structure for a public/private retail development partnership, it’s going to take some extra effort.

So how do you go about making sure that all parties are reasonably satisfied? Keep reading to find out.

A Fair Deal

Each party in a public/private partnership is invested in the outcome of the deal and has a stake in upholding the transaction documents. In a fair deal, they’ll be reasonably certain of achieving the outcomes both agreed on. Both sides accept the risks as well as the rewards and acknowledge there’s a fair balance between the two.

The public and private side each contribute to making sure the deal stays fair. The private side takes financial risks expecting to reap significant rewards on that investment. The public side balances that investment by providing infrastructure, incentives, and other resources. And they’re expecting to receive a return on the investment as well in the form of employment opportunities, an improved sales tax base, available services, and other public benefits.

A Foundation For Fairness

It’s pretty much inevitable that a public/private partnership will hit a few rough patches during the course of your retail development deal. You can make things easier down the road by laying a foundation early-on that supports your goal of maintaining a fair deal structure. Both parties need to do their homework and evaluate the risks and returns offered on both sides.

Don’t just leave negotiations up to the lawyers. The more involved each side is during the negotiation, the better you’ll be able to ensure you’re creating a fair deal. Open communication and shared information go a long way toward cultivating the mutual trust needed to maintain a fair partnership.

A Need For Counsel

While it’s vital that both parties stay involved when negotiating the deal, they can also benefit from an outside perspective. Public/private partnerships involve a wide variety of technical and legal details. So you’ll want to hire someone with the expertise to make sure everything goes smoothly. It’s better to take a little extra time and bring in an expert than to rush into a deal only to find out later that it wasn’t as fair as you both thought.

Retail Attractions provides a much-needed perspective on partnership negotiation. We have extensive experience with retail development details. We’ll help you make sure the deal you work-out benefits both parties. With our knowledge of the retail development process, we can advise both public and private parties as they negotiate and compromise to develop the best possible contract. To learn more, contact us and check out the book City On A Hill.