FDOT kicked off the procurement of the I-4 Ultimate project in March 2013 by hosting an Industry Forum to introduce the private sector to the project and solicit their recommendations on the terms of the procurement. The event was attended by over 1,000 people from highly qualified firms.
Shortly thereafter, FDOT issued a Request for Qualifications to identify firms that would be qualified to bid on the project. FDOT received submittals from seven teams in April 2013, and in June 2013 announced a list of four firms that would be invited to submit proposals for the project. FDOT then conducted four rounds of meetings with each of the bidders and used their input to enhance the procurement documents it was preparing with the help of a team of advisers. As a result of this process, FDOT modified its request for proposals to allow the bidders to identify technical enhancements to FDOT's design.
FDOT received separate technical and financial proposals from the bidders in early 2014. Then on April 23, 2014, it selected I-4 Mobility Partners OpCo. LLC (I-4 Mobility Partners) as the preferred bidder based on achieving the best score based on a combination of technical and financial criteria. Although it scored a close second technically, its financial proposal was superior to the other bidders and undercut the availability payment price cap set by FDOT. Through the project technical enhancements process, I-4 Mobility Partners also expanded the scope of the project to include an additional set of direct connector ramps, additional auxiliary lanes, and a pedestrian bridge, adding further value to the project bid.
The I-4 Mobility Partners concession company is owned by the Swedish contractor Skanska Infrastructure Development Inc. and John Laing Investments Limited, a British investment firm and infrastructure operator. FDOT executed a 40-year P3 concession agreement with I-4 Mobility Partners on September 4, 2014.