Entitlements

The development world has become progressively more complex with local, state, county and federal regulations requiring various levels of environmental protection, water quality, stormwater management, landscaping, neighborhood consultations, restrictive covenants, easements and the like.

Typically, land is far from being ready to be developed for its ultimate use. It must be subdivided, zoned and evaluated for encumbrances such as easements, restrictive covenants, flood plains, wetlands and traffic restrictions, among others.

The Consort staff is very skilled at securing entitlements for property. For example, for more than a decade, a 50-acre tract of land located in the direct path of large scale development had remained undeveloped because the previous owner had been unable to secure rights to wastewater service without the expenditure of several million dollars. A group from Consort evaluated the data for a new owner, presented it to the wastewater supplier and secured a commitment for wastewater service within 10 days. Within six months, they had negotiated an arrangement with that city to pay for all the capital expenditures of the wastewater line construction.

For another client, the firm was able to secure a contract with a city to pay for the design and construction of two major arterials and two large stormwater detention and water quality ponds, which would have otherwise been a part of the cost of the development.

On a 100-acre, mixed use development, members of the firm developed many of the provisions of the restrictive covenants which govern signage, architectural controls, reciprocal parking, access easements and other operating features of the 2.1 million square-foot center.

For a multi-state, regional restaurant chain, Consort prepared almost 50 due diligence reports on various potential sites in several states in the southwest United States. These detailed reports define, from all aspects of the development process, if and how a site must be developed.

The Company has offered entitlement services since its inception and has found that an increasing number of clients use these non-design services.