At a Glance:

Sector:  Justice / Municipal

Location:  Ellicott City, Maryland

Delivery:  Public-Private Partnership | Availability Payment

Scale:  237,000 SF Facility +  691-Space Parking Garage

Certification:  LEED Gold

Result:  Delivered early and under budget | 6 major industry awards

The Situation

Howard County had been trying to replace its 175-year-old courthouse for decades. The building was historic and couldn’t keep up: not enough space, outdated security, aging systems. Everyone agreed it needed to happen. It just kept not happening.

The challenge was less about what to build and more about how to get it done on budget, on schedule, without disrupting active court operations, and through a model that would guarantee the long-term performance and reliability of the facility. Very few development partners are able or willing to take on that full scope of responsibility, and it took Howard County years to find the right partner who could.

This was set to be the largest infrastructure project the county had ever undertaken, and its first public-private partnership. Most public officials avoid projects of this magnitude where the stakes and complexity are high, and if things go wrong, they're the ones held responsible. Howard County's leadership recognized the need, made the decision to act, and finally found the partner they had been searching for in Edgemoor.

How We Structured It

Together with Howard County, we structured a single agreement that bundled design, financing, construction, and long-term maintenance under one team, accountable for all of it.

The model was built around performance-based payments. Rather than paying a lump sum upfront for construction, the county would make payments over time - tied directly to how well the building performed. If systems underperformed, if maintenance fell short, if the facility wasn’t meeting its standards, payments would be reduced. This structure transferred all the risk from the County and it’s taxpayers to Edgemoor as the developer. And not for a year or two but for years after opening.

This was the first availability-payment courthouse partnership of its kind outside California. For Howard County, it meant something surprisingly rare in public infrastructure: genuine cost certainty and a development partner with real skin in the game over the long-haul.

This is how we approach every project. Every material, every system, every design decision is evaluated with long-term performance in mind. Not whether it meets a basic spec requirement on day one, but considering how it will hold up for the people using it years down the road. Most developers build to a standard, hand over the keys, and move on. We stand behind our projects and how well they perform long after opening. That's a rare commitment in this industry, and it's one we take seriously.

Managing Stakeholder Complexity

One of the project’s biggest challenges had nothing to do with construction. It was bringing six separate departments — each with their own leadership, workflows, and expectations — under one roof.

The new courthouse consolidated the Register of Wills, Clerk of the Courts, Sheriff’s Office, State’s Attorney, Court Administration, and Orphans Court. These groups had been operating in separate buildings for years. Merging them into a shared facility meant navigating questions that went well beyond floor plans: where each department sat, how spaces functioned, who got what — decisions that were as much political and personal as they were logistical.

Adding another layer: our contract was with the county, but many of the courthouse’s daily users were state employees. Maryland’s circuit courts are state-operated, even though the county provides the facilities. In practice, that meant managing two distinct sets of stakeholders — the county team responsible for finance and delivery, and the court user groups who would work in the building every day. That kind of dual-client dynamic required careful navigation but was something we’d grown accustomed to, as we’ve faced many similar complex dynamics on past projects.  

Delivering Through COVID

Construction began in fall 2019. Six months later, COVID shut the world down.

A disruption of that scale derailed projects with far less complexity. But the integrated delivery model held. One team, one set of incentives, consistent leadership from start to finish. Keeping the project on track through the pandemic came down to the team — in how we worked together and the collective commitment that each of us brought to the project.

An independent consultant tracked milestone compliance across eight major projects during that period. Of those eight, Howard County was the only project that remained on time and on budget through the pandemic. Every other project experienced significant delays and/or cost overruns. The courthouse was delivered a day early and under budget.

What We Learned in Operations

The agreement included three years of post-delivery operations and maintenance — a component we value because of what it reveals. Operating a building after delivery gives you a perspective that many developers never get. Which design choices actually hold up in daily use? Which systems perform the way they were supposed to? What do the people working in the building every day actually need and use most?

Howard County deepened that perspective significantly. The scale and complexity of the facility, the range of user groups, and the years spent managing its performance reinforced lessons we carry into every project we take on: if you're not thinking every day about what happens after delivery, you're not doing the job.

Recognition

The Howard County Courthouse received six major industry awards:

• P3 Bulletin — Best Social Infrastructure Project, Gold (2019). 

• P3 Bulletin — Best Financial Structure, Social Infrastructure, Gold (2019). 

• P3 Bulletin — Best Operational Project, Highly Commended (2023). 

• AIA Justice Facilities Award (2021). 

• ACEC Virginia Grand Award for Engineering Excellence (2022). 

• USGBC Maryland Rise to the Challenge Award (2023).

The project also contributed to Edgemoor winning Developer of the Year, and Howard County received Silver for Government Agency of the Year at the P3 Awards — a significant achievement for a county competing on a much larger national stage.

When the Howard County team traveled to New York for the black-tie awards ceremony, they joked they’d need a trophy case. Then they built one. For a while, it held only the awards from this project. That kind of pride from the client said more about the success of a project than any metric ever could.

The Bigger Picture

Every project we take on is high stakes. We don’t have 300 projects to choose from. We may only deliver one or two a year. Every one matters — to our reputation, to our clients, and to the communities they serve.

Howard County proved something that extends well beyond a single courthouse: when you tie payment to performance, you change the incentives. The developer thinks like an owner. Maintenance isn’t deferred. Taxpayers get cost certainty instead of cost surprises. And the community gets a civic building that performs the way it was promised to.

The real question for any public entity isn’t “who can build this?” It’s “who’s willing to stand behind it for the next 20 years?”