Brent E. Butzin

Brent Butzin focuses on advising public agencies on the structuring, procurement, negotiation, financing, construction and delivery of his clients’ most innovative, unconventional and challenging projects. He has extensive experience in the use of public-private partnerships and other alternative contracting tools and brings an emphasis on delivering value to the public through the entire project lifecycle.

Brent’s current work includes a broad array of projects ranging from the development of new public facilities, including hotels, conference centers and arenas, to transportation projects, including new passenger rail systems, airport facility modernizations and autonomous vehicle-based public transit. Brent is a nationally-recognized project development attorney, including recognition by Chambers USA in the area of projects/public-private partnerships and from Best Lawyers in America^® for his expertise in construction law.

Brent previously served as general counsel to the Colorado Transportation Investment Office (CTIO), formerly known as the High Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE), a government-owned business and division of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the office responsible for pursuing public-private partnerships and other innovative means of project finance and delivery. He also has advised commercial developers on the organization and structuring of special districts, improvement districts, authorities and other special purpose entities to support public infrastructure development.

From 2008 to 2010, Brent worked as a City Management Advisor for the U.S. State Department based in Iraq, where he served as a senior advisor to mayors and district councils on the delivery of infrastructure projects and the development of local governance capacity. Brent is a licensed Professional Engineer.

Experience

Front Range Passenger Rail District, Denver, Colorado. Serve as general counsel to the Front Range Passenger Rail District supporting the District’s efforts, in collaboration with CDOT and RTD, to develop Colorado’s first intercity passenger rail service, initially running between Pueblo and Fort Collins. The project has been accepted into FRA’s Corridor ID Program and expected to complete a service development plan in 2025, with joint service north of Denver anticipated to start service as early as 2029.

City and County of Denver – National Western Center Equestrian Center + Hotel Project. Leader of the legal team on the procurement of an approximately $500 million project to develop a new 4,500 seat arena, 50,000 square foot warm-up paddock, 572-stall stables facility, 1,200 space parking garage. 160-room full-service hotel, adaptive reuse of the historic Armour Administrative Building and approximately 40 units of income-restricted housing on an 18-acre site of the National Western Center Campus. The project will be the first of its kind to utilize the USDOT’s RRIF Transit Oriented Development (TOD) financing program. Brent previously advised the City on the “Triangle” P3 procurement, which contemplated the full build-out of Phases 3-8 of the Campus, including a 10,000 seat arena, 400,000 square feet of exposition space, adaptive reuse of the historic 1909 Stadium Arena and significant private real estate development.

Regional Transportation District – Central Park Transit Oriented Development. Leader of the legal team advising RTD on its transit-oriented development program, including the proposed development of 500-1,000 affordable residential units at RTD’s Central Park Station.

University of Colorado Boulder – Campus Conference Center and Hotel, Quantum Incubator and CU South Development. Leader of the legal team on the P3 development of an on-campus 250-room hotel and 25,000 square foot conference center facility on the University of Colorado campus, which is envisioned to be a destination for high-profile events and experiences linking the university, research, business and nonprofit communities in Boulder. Brent continues to work with CU on other development initiatives, including establishment of the new Quantum incubator (in partnership with the Colorado School of Mines and Colorado State University); negotiations for the development of the CU South Campus; and redevelopment adjacent to RTD’s Flatiron Flyer station in Louisville. Brent also serves as general counsel to the CU Boulder Enterprise Corporation (CUBEC), a non-profit organized to supporting and strengthen instructional, research and service programs of the University of Colorado at Boulder, including entrepreneurial programs.

California High Speed Rail Authority – Program Strategy. Leading strategic efforts for the Authority to re-envision California High-Speed Rail, drive completion of the Central Valley portions of the program by 2026, complete extensions to Merced and Bakersfield and new construction packages to extend high-speed rail to Gilroy, connecting the system to the San Francisco Bay Area and to Palmdale in Los Angeles County, connecting into Metrolink regional rail and Brightline West Service to Las Vegas. In total, the program encompasses $13 billion already invested and another $15 billion in work on the near-term horizon.

City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles World Airports – Consolidated Rent-a-Car (ConRAC) Project. Represent Los Angeles World Airports in connection with contract administration and construction claims on the ConRAC DBFOM project, including advice on the resolution of construction, permitting and schedule-related claims and representation of LAWA in Project Neutral proceedings.

San Bernardino County Transportation Authority – Ontario Airport Connector. Leader of the legal team on the procurement of a tunneled, fully autonomous on-demand transit connection from the Rancho Cucamonga Metrolink Station to the Ontario International Airport. The tunnel is anticipated to connect to anticipated Brightline West high speed rail service, connecting Southern California to Las Vegas and the West Valley Connector Bus Rapid Transit service. SBCTA is undertaking a two-step progressive design-build procurement that will retain multiple teams to ensure price competition while maximizing competition and will also include an O&M component. The procurement also seeks to integrate innovations in tunneling technology with emerging autonomous vehicle technologies in a first-of-its-kind airport connector application.

Contra Costa Transportation Authority – Autonomous Transit Network Project. Leader of the legal team on the procurement of a proposed fully autonomous dynamic transit project in the East Bay area, which will link East County communities to Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) stations. The procurement utilizes portions of California’s Infrastructure Finance Act (IFA) and other legal authorizations to enable a progressive DBFOM procurement that contemplates undertaking project development and environmental reviews collaboratively between CCTA and the selected private partner.

City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles World Airports – LAX Cargo Modernization. Leader of the legal team that advised LAWA on its $2.3 billion effort to modernize and consolidate cargo facilities at LAX. LAWA entered into a predevelopment agreement with the selected development team and negotiations toward a development agreement remain ongoing.

City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles World Airports – Automated People Mover (APM) Project. Part of the legal team representing LAWA in connection with contract administration and construction claims on the APM DBFOM project, including advice on the negotiation of a comprehensive settlement of outstanding claims on the project.

San Bernardino County Transportation Authority – Hydrogen Fueling Facility. Advised SBCTA on contracting for the construction of a hydrogen fuel facility to support the Arrow commuter rail service, North America’s first battery and hydrogen-powered passenger train, between San Bernardino and Redlands.

San Bernardino County Transportation Authority – I-10 Project Claims. Leader of the legal team that advised SBCTA on construction period claims related to the I-10 Express Lanes Project, which includes approximately 10 miles of new express lanes construction stretching from the Los Angeles County line to I-15. The representation includes advising SBCTA on strategies related to significant ‘total cost claims’, COVID-related claims and other schedule-related claims on this $930 million project.

City and County of Honolulu – Honolulu Rail Transit Project. Leader of the legal team that represented the City and County of Honolulu on the $8.2 billion DBFOM P3 procurement of the Honolulu Rail Transit Project, a 20-mile, 21-station elevated light rail system linking East Kapolei on the west side of Oahu to Aloha Stadium, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu International Airport, downtown Honolulu and the Ala Moana Center. The procurement was cancelled post-bis as a result of the COVIC-19 pandemic.

Stations Accessibility Projects, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York, NY. Part of the legal team that advised New York’s MTA Construction & Development in connection with its design-build program, including procurement of a multi-station design-build-maintenance ADA accessibility station upgrade project across the five boroughs of New York City, including the installation of new elevators at each station, structural and excavation work, electrical and communications upgrades and platform reconstruction.

Gateway Program and Portal North Bridge, New York / New Jersey. Part of the legal team that advised NJ TRANSIT in connection with the trans-Hudson River Gateway Program, including advise on project funding, financing (including potential TIFIA/RRIF loans) and strategy on the core $20bn tunnel project, as well as the funding and procurement of the $1.5bn Portal North Bridge passenger rail project.

Red-Purple Line Modernization Project, Chicago Transit Authority. Part of the legal team that represented the Chicago Transit Authority on the Red-Purple Line Modernization design-build project, the largest capital project ever undertaken by the CTA. The project involved the complete rebuild of significant portions of nearly century-old elevated transit lines and structures, including the reconstruction of four active stations—through the heart of Chicago’s north side. The project integrates P3 risk allocation provisions and market practices into CTA’s existing design-build procurement structure.

News

Community & Professional

Government Counsel and Construction Sections, Colorado and Denver Bar Association, 2013 – Present, Member

Denver YIMBY, 2017 – Present, Founding Member

The Park People, Denver Digs Trees Program, 2012 – Present, Community Forester

Honors & Recognitions

Included in The Best Lawyers in America^© for Construction Law, 2024

Individual recognition for Projects, PPP – Nationwide, Chambers USA, 2024-2025

Individual recognition for Projects: PPP – Nationwide, Up and Coming by Chambers USA, 2023

Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute Award for Excellence in Land Use Law, 2008