Driving Growth Forward
Economic Development
SSI Program Phases
Progressing only the highest quality sites toward market-ready status
Through the Strategic Sites Inventory Program, LDG identifies the highest quality raw land sites and conducts rigorous engineering and environmental screening to advance only the most competitive sites to market. Each of the five SSI Program phases is informed by proven site selection and economic development competitiveness standards and best practices.
Discover
Site Discovery
Site Discovery identifies never before found sites and affirms only the highest quality properties on the market. Whereas conventional site certification programs of various incarnations across the country evaluate properties that are already on the market regardless of suitability, SSI Site Discovery constitutes a mining exercise in which previously unknown sites of exceptional quality for industrial and commercial projects are discovered.
Phase I
Evaluate
Preliminary Due Diligence
Site Evaluation is designed to expose any potential “fatal flaws” that would compromise site competitiveness. Phase II entails a desktop engineering and environmental site review to confirm initial site development potential from Phase I discovery. This includes a qualitative review of physical site characteristics, ecological conditions, transportation and utility connectivity, and surrounding land use compatibility along with rough-order-of-magnitude costs for site improvements and environmental permitting burden including potential wetlands mitigation.
Phase II
Engage
Advancement to Market
Site Advancement constitutes pursuit of a real estate purchase option at a fair market value price. SSI Phase III commences upon a site achieving a favorable development opinion from Phase II and is a necessary step in graduating a site to the open real estate market in a development-ready capacity by stimulating landowner interest through education, outreach, and relationship building.
Phase III
Survey
Formal Due Diligence
Site Due Diligence takes site investigation from an engineering and environmental review exercise to a full “boots on the ground”, quantitative physical site survey and documentation. Phase IV is administered judiciously with only select sites qualifying as candidates for formal due diligence. Sites that merit this level of investigation typically are suited for large-scale capital investments, which require quantification of site development advantages and risks.
Phase IV
Advertise
Branding and Marketing
Site Marketing is necessary to activate the SSI Program investment by creating a comprehensive informational package to globally promote the location value to target industries. Phase V should be activated immediately prior to the successful completion of Phase III and graduation of a site to market, where resources include compelling visual documentation of the subject site along with quantifiable development advantages of both the site and the host community.
Phase V
Discover Your Ideal Location
Unlock the potential of your project with our expert site selection and development services.
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Site Determining Factors
The feasibility of a site for use as an economic development asset is contingent upon a variety of factors. LDG examines each of these factors and more, taking the guesswork and politicization out of the arena and utilizing a strategic process proven to select objectively competitive sites that better the community.
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Surrounding land use compatibility
Transportation access
Elevation
Wetlands
Proximity to cultural features
Utility infrastructure
Workforce availability
Flood risk
Conservation areas
Public opinion
Core Suitability Modeling
Core Suitability Modeling (CSM) is a land use and logistics-driven GIS analysis tool enabling the site search efficiency unique to the SSI Program. A suite of eight core models provide the versatility to analyze location suitability for a diverse set of industry sectors. Each core model is defined by a project land use and includes up to four transportation scenarios. This allows strategic site searches to be customized for each community to align with transportation assets and viable target industries. Objective and a-political, Core Suitability Modeling defines site quality through a complex set of industrial and commercial location competitiveness factors.
CSMs suggest optimal locations for facility permitting, construction, and operation while protecting sensitive environmental, ecological, and cultural resources. Informed by 20+ years of industrial site selection experience, industry sector models are built on multi-disciplined engineering and environmental regulatory compliance expertise. The highly technical and data-driven nature of SSI Core Suitability Modeling results in a high site due diligence survival rate.
Core Suitability Model Index: Your Guide to Optimal Site Selection
Our proprietary methodologies ensure comprehensive analysis for informed site decisions.
Transforming Data into Actionable Insights for Economic Development
Utilizing advanced modeling techniques, we identify the best site options.
Comprehensive Evaluation Factors for Site Suitability Assessment
We analyze key factors to ensure optimal site selection outcomes.
Core Suitability Model Index
Core Suitability Models consider a wide array of location and performance factors (inputs) relevant to site physical characteristics, surrounding land use compatibility, transportation access, and environmental, ecological, and cultural sensitivities. Inputs represent attractive and vulnerable criteria such as interstate, multi-lane divided highway, Class I rail, navigable waterway/port, flood risk, elevation/slope, potential wetlands, soil conditions, and more. Spatial analysis is used to derive numerical values for site suitability inputs. Inputs are weighted for model influence and mathematically summed to produce a composite location score. Each Core Suitability Model index is visualized as a color-coded heat map suggesting geographic areas where features and conditions are best suited for sector-specific industrial or commercial development.
