The Site Selection process is critical for Mission Critical projects (Large, Labor Intensive Distribution and Manufacturing) and we employee world class technology and market research to provide our clients with impactful, value driven customer service. Site Selection processes and services include:

Customized Site Selection Analysis

We build a profile of the client’s proposed facility within the site selection optimization model and calculate the estimated annual cost of wages, real and personal property taxes, electricity and real estate or development costs for each location within the client-defined study area(s). It quantifies the geographic differences in operating costs among all locations within the study area(s). The cost-based screening is supplemented with parallel analyses of labor union election activity, unionized companies, labor quality and availability, availability of seasonal workers, proximity to critical transportation infrastructure, weather or seismic risk factors, and other variables as required by the client.

The output is a short list of options in which costs are minimized, labor requirements are met and operational risks are reduced. The search for sites or buildings is advanced in the recommended locations.

Labor Shed Analysis

This analysis is a very deep dive into labor availability and labor union activity around specific sites or buildings. The labor markets are drive-time configured labor sheds, i.e., the geographic area from which the client’s employees are likely to be drawn. The centroid of each labor shed is an acceptable site or building for the client’s operation.

These analyses identify the best alternatives through a side-by-side summary and comparison of each labor shed relative to normalized labor union organizing activity by industry and union; labor union threat; wage cost by job title and experience; labor force demographics by income level and how these characteristics impact labor availability; educational attainment; and other measures of desirability and feasibility.

Pro Forma Cost Analysis

This is a detailed 10-year pro forma development and operating cost analysis and comparison of each finalist property. It is tailored to the client’s planned operation, and reflects employment by job skill and shift; projected investment in production or material handling equipment by class life; utility load profiles; and the cost to build, buy or lease the facility. It also establishes the investment and operating cost baseline for incentive negotiations.

Economic Incentive Negotiations

The objectives are to secure financial incentives to reduce the client’s investment in land, facility and/or equipment; ensure timely and low cost permitting; reduce the annually recurring cost of operations; ensure smooth recruiting and training processes; improve operational flexibility; and protect the client from punitive provisions of particular incentive programs. We maintain extremely close relationships with municipalities and economic development specialists to identify and assist in procuring economic incentives which support our client’s goals.

Project implementation

We provide turnkey services for the management of design, development and construction of industrial facilities, as well as retrofit or upfit of existing buildings. Services include:

  • Preparation of facility criteria for retrofit or new construction
  • Retrofit/upfit feasibility and cost analysis in spec and second generation buildings
  • Preparation of construction and retrofit budget estimates
  • Coordination and management of permitting
  • Development of construction bid packages and RFPs
  • Bid management and cost analysis
  • Construction administration including on-site inspections, budget and schedule management, change order control and coordination of equipment installation
  • Project closeout, occupancy certificate and facility turnover