25 Ways to Get Your Site Eliminated - #20: Assume Your Prospects Can Visualize
November 30, 2011 | by: Tim Davey, PE
Site Evaluation and Selection has become a complex process for companies considering expansions, relocations, or new facilities. Many companies choose to assemble a committee from various disciplines so that many different perspectives are represented in the process. I agree with this approach. It’s my experience though that only 1 or 2 of the folks on the committee have actual experience with real estate, renovating existing buildings, or greenfield construction. The consultant hired to guide the committee through the process provides valuable real estate experience. Depending on their particular expertise, the consultant (or may not) be able to help their client visualize what a new facility will look like on your site.
Architectural/Engineering sketches, schematics, renderings, 3-Dimensonal images, and cool flyovers are extremely valuable resources to help your clients visualize their new home. Computer “walk-through” simulations of an interior up-fit can definitely help the committee get comfortable selecting an existing building for their important expansion. Engineering firms can successfully show how a greenfield site will look once the trees are cleared, the roads are constructed, and the pad site is graded. All of this makes for a wonderful presentation within the confines of a conference room or hotel lobby. What happens though when you take the committee to an ugly brownfield, a tired industrial building, or a densely forested site with briers and underbrush hiding the property’s potential? Sometimes the field visit is a tremendous disappointment or raises more questions than you expected it to answer.
I suggest you consider making actual construction improvements consistent with your target clients and marketing materials. The closer your current site meets the picture you painted in the conference room the better. I understand that construction is much more expensive than renderings and engineering studies…and I suggest you strike a balance. Place yourself in the shoes of a real estate “amateur” serving on a site selection committee for the first (and possibly only) time in their career. You just might learn something about your own site!