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Site Selection

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Site Selection

As the saying goes, three things matter with respect to property purchases: “location, location, location.” Finding the best site, however, involves the analysis of multiple factors, such as available federal, state and local incentives, the ability to cultivate key relationships with state and local agencies, zoning and real estate issues, labor and construction markets, and other classic public and private transactional matters. Joint multidisciplinary teams of professionals from Thompson Hine LLP and its wholly owned subsidiary, Project Management Consultants LLC (PMC), routinely help clients understand, access and balance these many components and then find the right locations for their new manufacturing facilities, distribution centers, corporate headquarters and other projects. We serve as legal and consulting partners through all phases of the site selection and development process.

A full-service, 400-lawyer business law firm serving regional, national and international clients out of eight offices, Thompson Hine has earned recognition by Chambers USA and The Legal 500 as a top U.S. law firm. Our Construction and Real Estate practice groups, comprising more than 55 lawyers, are not only the largest in Ohio, they’re among the biggest in the nation. With a steadfast focus on delivering exceptional client service, we have built a reputation for embracing innovation, offering data-driven, value-based pricing, and maintaining a long-standing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Multidisciplinary company PMC consists of seasoned finance, construction, design and real estate professionals, including financial strategists, licensed architects, engineers, construction managers and experienced construction lawyers. Our team provides site selection consulting, public and private financing consulting, public incentive selection and procurement, project and risk management consulting, design and construction partnering facilitation and mediation, and owner’s representation services in connection with significant projects across the United States.

When you’re looking for partners to help your organization find and develop the ideal location for your next project, choose Thompson Hine and PMC.

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Site-Selection-Practice (Download)

Leaders

Our Thompson Hine team comprises experienced lawyers practicing in the following relevant areas: zoning & land use, real estate, construction, incentives & public finance, commercial finance, corporate, environmental, supply chain, logistics & transportation, tax, and international trade.

Our PMC team consists of experienced consultants in the following areas: financial consulting & incentives, insurance & risk management, project management, and owner’s representation.

If you have questions, please contact our site selection co-chairs.

 

Identifying the right location for a project is a complex endeavor. With our broad range of experience, rigorous evaluation process and comprehensive service offerings tailored to clients’ needs, Thompson Hine and PMC help clients streamline, plan and execute successful site selection initiatives. Our services include:

Initial Assessment

  • Objectives review (cost, timing, geography)
  • Financial feasibility assessment
  • Budget, cost & schedule review
  • Labor & demographic analysis

Team Selection

  • Identification of external consultant & partner needs
  • Consultant & partner selection, including evaluation of RFQs & RFPs
  • Relationship-building with government economic development officials

Community Benefits

  • Strategies for MBE, FBE & local workforce requirements
  • Structuring approach & compliance
  • Integrating union labor & contract requirements
  • Community benefits agreements

Incentive & Capital Identification

  • Public incentive opportunity analysis, including tax credits, grants, bonds, tax exemptions, TIF & district-based incentives
  • Strategies to leverage private capital, including bank loans & EB-5 foreign investment capital
  • Economic impact analysis

Property Acquisition

  • Letters of intent
  • Purchase agreements
  • Development agreements
  • Title insurance
  • Closings

Entitlements & Diligence

  • Zoning & land use approvals
  • Environmental permitting analysis
  • Wetland & brownfield legal requirements analysis
  • Title & survey reviews

Incentive & Capital Closings

  • Incentive applications
  • Drafting of communications to government officials & legislators
  • Incentive closings
  • Loan applications
  • Loan documentation & closings

Design & Construction

  • Design & construction legal contracting
  • Insurance & risk management consulting
  • Dispute resolution services
  • Partnering facilitation services

Owner’s Representation

  • Project delivery selection
  • Project budgeting & scheduling
  • Design & construction oversight
  • Project cost to budget reconciliation
  • Claim resolution & project closeout management

Access our full brochure here.

 

  • In December 2020, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 39 into law, establishing the new Transformational Mixed-Use Development (TMUD) Tax Credit for mixed-use new construction and rehabilitation projects. Finance professionals from PMC assisted in drafting the initial legislation. The tax credits help catalyze large mixed-use projects statewide, generating significant tax benefits for Ohio’s communities. At the time this bill was passed, no major statewide grants or tax credit incentives for new construction projects existed.
  • Between 2020 and 2022, PMC helped clients secure $6.1 million in Ohio Site Inventory Program grants for four projects across northern Ohio, including end-user and speculative projects in the manufacturing, cold food storage and logistics/distribution sectors.
  • In Cleveland, PMC worked with the Flats East developer and legal and accounting advisors to enact Ohio’s first 60-year tax increment financing (TIF).
  • In 2019, Thompson Hine and PMC helped a Fortune 500 company successfully structure and close on an $83 million warehouse and distribution center with incentives valued at nearly $26 million.
  • In 2019, PMC assisted a client in the aerospace sector with a multi-state site selection process for its new headquarters and main manufacturing facility, which included conducting incentive negotiations in three states and closing on incentives with the finalist state. Total incentives secured included $4.8 million in grants and tax credits for the $12.9 million project. In 2020, PMC assisted the same client in securing more than $1 million in incentives for an expansion that allowed for additional job growth and output at the same facility via an out-of-state acquisition.

The following major projects are representative examples of Thompson Hine and PMC’s site selection and development experience. Additional information is available upon request.

  • Provided project legal counsel, construction partnering facilitation, project management consulting and risk management consulting for the development, engineering and construction of a $2.5 billion plant for a consortium of seven global companies.
  • Served as development and finance counsel for the $350 million Lower.com MLS soccer stadium in Columbus, Ohio, with a $400 million adjacent mixed-use project, including negotiating development agreements for grants and other funding from the state of Ohio, the city of Columbus and Franklin County.
  • Provided construction and real estate legal services, risk management consulting, project delivery counseling and construction partnering facilitation to a global aerospace manufacturer for a $1 billion manufacturing facility in North Carolina.
  • Served as real estate, construction and incentives legal counsel for a Fortune 500 company in connection with the development of a 1.3 million-square-foot fulfillment and distribution center in central Ohio, including negotiating the site acquisition, development and design, and construction contracts; identifying and closing on state and local incentives; and negotiating and closing on financing.
  • Provided construction and real estate legal services, risk management consulting and construction partnering facilitation to a multinational appliance and equipment manufacturer for a headquarters project in Florida.
  • Served as project legal counsel for various significant U.S. plant expansion and construction projects for a global company headquartered in the Netherlands.
  • Served as real estate and construction legal counsel for a Fortune 200 company in connection with development of a global headquarters in Ohio, including drafting design and construction agreements and designing and implementing a risk management and insurance program.
  • Served as project legal counsel and financial consultant on a $275 million project in Cleveland, including conceptualizing and implementing a project delivery system; designing and implementing a risk management and insurance program; negotiating all design and construction contracts; securing federal, state and local public financing; and negotiating private financing from 35 sources.
  • Served as project and bond counsel for an international consortium-concessionaire in connection with Ohio’s first transportation public-private partnership with the state of Ohio: the $500 million, 26-mile Portsmouth Bypass.