Infrastructure And REITs: Happy Together

The Opportunity

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009 ("ARRA"). It includes significant spending and tax cuts in connection with improving the nation's infrastructure. The spending is focused on improving roadways, updating the aviation system, replacing and maintaining water systems, and making the energy grid more modern, reliable and efficient. The tax cuts target infrastructure improvements such as modernizing the electrical transmission grid. While the dollar amounts appropriated by ARRA are staggering and the projects encompass virtually every facet of infrastructure, this public funding is only a small portion of what will be needed over the next decade. Private investment is necessary to bridge the gap between what has been appropriated by ARRA and actually what will be needed to finance the infrastructure improvements.