Conforming to Puerto Rico's 2009 P3 Act, the PPPA established the Partnership Committee for the PR-22/PR-5 brownfield project in May 2010. The Committee's responsibilities included approving all documents required of the process, procuring the project, evaluating proposals, negotiating the terms of the concession agreement, and overseeing compliance with the P3 Act. The PR-22/PR-5 Partnership Committee comprised officials from the Development Bank of Puerto Rico, PRHTA, the PPPA and the Department of Transportation and Public Works.
In June 2010, the PPPA published a Request for Qualifications to which eight private developers responded. The committee narrowed the field down to four groups who would be invited to submit formal proposals for the long-term lease concession. Selection criteria included: expertise in highway operations and maintenance, environmental stewardship, and financial capabilities, including the ability to raise finances, credit quality, and ability to make an upfront payment.
The PPPA issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) and draft concession agreement in November 2010 to the shortlisted respondents, who were required to submit their responses by May 2011. During the RFP period, two bidders submitted a request to respond as a single bidder. This request was approved, but the group subsequently withdrew its proposal. The PPPA ultimately received proposals from the two remaining bidders. The PPPA evaluated the proposals on a pass/fail basis against four criteria: completeness of proposal, financing plan, operating plan, and professional qualifications. Since both bidders met the required technical criteria, the award was made based on the payment the bidders were prepared to make. Autopistas Metropolitanas de Puerto Rico, LLC (Metropistas), composed of Abertis Infraestructuras (a Spanish toll road and telecommunication infrastructure operator) and Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners II (an investment arm of the American bank) offered a lease payment of $1,080 million. The runner-up bid was $960.45 million.
In June 2011, the Partnership Committee recommended the selection of Metropistas as the concessionaire, based on their passing proposal and higher concession fee.