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The World Bank indicated that inadequate infrastructure hinders local economic growth and competitiveness and it represents a major cause of quality of life loss. This research studied the proposal for a new multipurpose building at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez (UPRM) through a public-private partnership (PPP). The proposed building seeks to address several problems, including lack of parking spaces and flooding problems in the current parking site. The project proposed consists of a multi-story parking with approximately 960 new parking spaces. In addition, is proposed to build an underground pond to manage the storm-water and a new commercial space of 50,000 ft². Nevertheless, the decision-making is difficult and can be controversial because private initiatives are traditionally rejected by the community. The main objective of this paper is to study the delivery method options for the procurement of this infrastructure. Several options of PPPs were evaluated for the essential basic services. The decisions on whether a project is implemented as a PPP should depend on whether “value for money” (VFM) will be achieved. During the first phase of this research UPRM students had the opportunity to express preferences and concerns about possible rates for the use of the new parking. In order to identify current demand of parking space and campus necessities, 1,000 students were surveyed. The second phase of this study included the implementation of VFM calculation for the proposed multi-story parking building. A cost analysis with industry prices of design, build, operation, maintenance, and financial cost was also included on this study. Preliminary results showed that the students are willing to pay a fare for the use of this infrastructure, even though the existing parking space can be used for free. The construction budget was estimated to be close to $26M with a pay back of approximately 21 years. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by including community participation in procurement of infrastructure.

Over the past two decades, governments around the world have been embracing Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) as an alternative approach in the provision of infrastructure. PPPs have their merits in remedying financial shortages in public sectors and improving infrastructure performance, but they must be carefully selected on the basis of value for money when compared to conventional procurement. While Value for Money analysis as an evaluation method has been widely used to ensure feasibility, accountability, and transparency in PPPs, little is known with respect to its effectiveness and appropriate theoretical foundations. By mapping theoretical foundations and practical analysis methods, this paper reports the weakness and inadequacy of current value for money analysis. The study especially explores existing theoretical foundations and empirical evidence for PPP value for money and highlights paths for future research.