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G. Scott Rafshoon
Partner
Scott Rafshoon’s project finance practice focuses on public-private partnerships (P3s) at the local, state and federal levels. Scott is known for collaborating effectively with government and financial stakeholders involved in complex social infrastructure projects, and for leading his clients’ legal teams from early-stage planning to commercial and financial close. For more than two decades, he has specialized in helping clients navigate the complexities of P3 military housing projects. Leveraging that experience, he regularly assists private sector clients to structure, finance and close social infrastructure projects involving the leasing of government- and university-owned property.
Many of Scott’s clients operate at the intersection of government, law and business. Through his background as a professional journalist and his involvement in numerous political campaigns, he is able to provide a holistic approach to legal representation, bringing an additional level of service to his clients. He combines legal and advocacy skills with strategic experience developed over years of work on a variety of legislative, regulatory and policy projects.
A native of Atlanta, Scott is an adjunct professor of law at Emory University School of Law where he teaches contract drafting and deal skills. He has represented numerous local, state and federal political candidates and officeholders, as well as political action committees.
- Served as bond and co-developer counsel for first-of-its-kind workforce housing P3 project in Telluride, Colorado.
- Represented sponsor in the development and financing of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) most recent (2023) P3 military housing project on seven separate Army installations in six states and Puerto Rico.
- Advised winning bidder for Vanderbilt University’s DBFOM graduate student housing P3 project.
- Represented a national, on-campus student housing company in the development and financing of a US$575 million student housing facility for the University of California system.
- Represented a London-based infrastructure investor and operator in military housing P3 projects at more than 50 military installations in 25 states and the District of Columbia, in separate transactions valued at more than US$4 billion.
- Successfully negotiated a 70-year P3 between NASA and a national infrastructure developer for the development of a mixed-use, residential and commercial facility on NASA campus in California.
- Represented a utilities privatization contractor in a US$400 million project finance transaction at an East Coast military installation.
- Advised a short-listed consortium bidding to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the new Merced campus at the University of California in a P3 transaction.
- Advised a short-listed concessionaire in connection with its bid to design, build, finance and operate the student housing assets at nine campuses included in the Georgia Board of Regents’ student housing P3 project.
- Represented a Hollywood producer in the acquisition of a former military base and its transformation into a film and television studio.
- Negotiated a master development agreement between a private sector team and the Georgia Department of Transportation for a multimodal passenger terminal in downtown Atlanta.
- Represented a leading airline company in restructuring its long-term catering outsourcing relationship, the carrier’s second largest single contract.
- Represented an Atlanta-area hospital system in the acquisition of a larger, internal medicine practice.
Education
- Emory University School of Law, J.D.
- Dartmouth College, B.A., cum laude
Admissions
- District of Columbia, 2009
- Georgia, 1996
Memberships & Affiliations
- Adjunct Professor, Emory School of Law
- Steering Committee and former Chair, J Street Georgia
- Board of Directors and former Chair, Zaban Paradies Center
- Board of Directors, Jewish Educational Loan Fund
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America 2024 for Public Finance Law
- Named among BTI Client Service All-Stars, 2016 and 2017
Publications
- Co-author, “A Road Map to Success for Public-Private Partnerships of Public Infrastructure Initiatives,” The Journal of Private Equity, Spring 2008.
- Co-author, “Are Storm Clouds Gathering for a Slow-Down in 2007?” Financier Worldwide, June 2007.
Speaking Engagements
- Speaker, “The Prospect for Workforce Housing,” California Housing and Community Development Conference, December 2024.
- Speaker, “Addressing the Missing Midde: The Prospect for Workforce Housing,” U.S. Housing and Community Development Conference & Expo, May, 2024.
- Speaker, “The Future of Military Public-Private Partnerships,” Association of Defense Communities National Summit, June 2015.
- Speaker, “The Private Sector Perspective on Growth and Evolution in Public/Private Partnerships,” InterFace On-Campus Housing 2013 Conference, November 2013.
- Speaker, “Budget Cuts and Privatization: How Housing Programs are Holding Up Against Budget Cuts,” Association of Defense Communities, June 2013.
- Conference co-chair, The Bond Buyer’s Financing Military Housing Privatization Conference, June 2010.