Nicholas R. Vallorano
Partner
Areas of Focus
- Energy & Infrastructure
- Infrastructure
- Project Development
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Private Equity
- Renewable Energy
- Project Debt & Equity Finance
- Corporate
- Finance
- Public Private Partnerships
- Projects & Energy Transition
- Advises government owners, sponsors, investors, lenders and contractors on complex public infrastructure transactions, including public-private partnerships, project development, and infrastructure financing across transportation and social infrastructure assets.
- Represents clients on innovative infrastructure projects involving revenue-risk concessions, availability payment structures, and design-build and design-build-finance transactions, including several first-of-their-kind and award-winning matters in the transportation sector.
- Counsels clients on public finance, gaming and public policy matters, including bond financings, gaming regulation, government ethics, regulatory compliance and political law issues.
Nick advises government owners, sponsors, investors, lenders, contractors and issuers on complex public infrastructure transactions and related financings across the United States. His practice focuses on public-private partnerships, project development, infrastructure finance, and public finance matters involving transportation and social infrastructure assets. Nick regularly counsels clients on revenue-risk concessions, availability payment structures, design-build and design-build-finance transactions, as well as bond financings that support major public infrastructure and affordable housing projects.
Nick has advised on numerous innovative and first-of-their-kind infrastructure transactions. His experience includes representing lenders, sponsors, developers and government entities on award-winning projects involving highways, bridges, airports and transit systems, including the largest issuance of surface transportation private activity bonds in the U.S. and the first use of tax-exempt private activity bonds to finance highway service areas. He also advises governmental entities evaluating and implementing public-private partnership structures for major infrastructure assets and serves as issuer's counsel on a broad range of public finance transactions.
In addition to his infrastructure practice, Nick represents major gaming companies on licensure and other regulatory issues. He also counsels clients on public law and political law matters, including government ethics, lobbyist registration, public records laws and regulatory compliance.
Beyond his legal practice, Nick is an active leader in Chicago’s civic and legal communities. Among other roles, he serves as outside counsel to the City Club of Chicago, is a past co-chair of the Navy Pier Associates Board and recently was named to the 2027 class of Leadership Greater Chicago Signature Fellows.
- Represented the Virgin Islands Port Authority on its proposed public-private partnership for the long-term lease and operation of the Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas and the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport on St. Croix.
- Represented Westchester County, New York and the City of St. Louis, Missouri on the proposed leases of the Westchester County Airport and the St. Louis Lambert International Airport, respectively.
- Represented Wells Fargo Bank, National Association and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC as underwriter’s counsel for the issuance of approximately $1.8 billion in private activity bonds for the first phase of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT) Pathways Major Bridge Public Private Partnership (P3) program to reconstruct major interstate bridges, the largest issuance of surface transportation private activity bonds ever. The project was named North America Roads Deal of the Year 2022 by Proximo, Deal of the Year by IJGlobal at its Americas Awards 2023, and Northeast region Deal of the Year 2023 by The Bond Buyer.
- Represented East Interchange Builders, LLC, the selected developer on the Georgia Department of Transportation’s I-285/I-20 East Interchange Project, a design-build-finance P3 project to address traffic flow at this interchange in DeKalb County, Georgia. The project was shortlisted in the Best Road, Bridge or Tunnel Project category at the P3 Bulletin Awards.
- Represented Citigroup as underwriter’s counsel for the issuance of approximately $270 million in private activity bonds for the New York State Thruway Service Areas project. The project was named Transport Deal of the Year 2021 by IJGlobal, North America P3 Deal of the Year 2021 by Proximo and “Public-Private Partnership Financing Deal of the Year” 2021 by The Bond Buyer.
- Since 2015, represented the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) as issuer’s counsel on all bond issuances for its single family, multifamily, and conduit bond programs, which provide vital funding for the development of affordable housing throughout the state of Illinois.
Education
- J.D., University of Illinois College of Law, 2015, summa cum laude, Order of the Coif; Editor-in-Chief, University of Illinois Law Review
- B.S., University of Virginia, 2012
- J.D., University of Illinois College of Law, 2015, summa cum laude, Order of the Coif; Editor-in-Chief, University of Illinois Law Review
- B.S., University of Virginia, 2012
Bar AdmissionsIllinois
New York
Illinois
New York
- Law360, Rising Star, Transportation, 2023.
- IFLR1000, Rising Star, Project Finance, 2024.
- The Bond Buyer, Multiple Deals of the Year.
- IJGlobal, Multiple Deals of the Year.
- Proximo, Multiple Deals of the Year.
- P3 Bulletin, Deal of the Year.
- IFLR1000, Deal of the Year.
- Author, "Progressive Delivery of Transportation INFRA," Project Finance International, May 2023.
- Author, "US DOT Allocates $615 Million for EV Charging Station Networks," Energy Forward Blog, March 2022.
- Author, "Evaluating and Implementing Airport Privatization and Public-Private Partnerships," National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2021.
