Case Study: Planning

Louisiana State University Medical Center

Challenge

Provide site analysis process to identify the most appropriate site selection criteria and apply those criteria to identified (potential) sites under consideration for location of replacement hospital and center for graduate medical education within a developed urban area.

The client’s objective was to find a location that would:

• Provide a central and accessible location to patients within an eight county service area
• Provide sufficient land area for initial primary care, clinical, research, and graduate education and research facilities, while providing additional land area for future expansion.
• Provide efficient and effective access to established healthcare providers within an existing medical corridor
• Provide for immediate acquisition in order to meet aggressive programming, planning, design and construction schedules.

Our Approach

Site Selection Criteria
Working with the Client, we identified the specific criteria that would achieve the objectives: Availability, Identity and Visibility, Accessibility, Surrounding Land Uses, Utilities, Environmental, and Site-specific Characteristics.  We then applied weighting to the criteria to appropriately reflect the relative importance of the criteria to the client.

Identification of Candidate Sites
We conducted a data inventory and analysis of the previously identified sites, and independently identified additional candidate sites for consideration, based upon the selected criteria.

Site Screening
Using the Site Selection Criteria for this Project we applied the weighted criteria to the inventory and analyzed results for each of the candidate sites.  We identified, and quantified where possible the relative advantages and disadvantages of each site, addressing regulatory and physical site suitability issues.

Site Development and Purchase Costs
A civil engineering firm was engaged to prepare preliminary order-of-magnitude estimates of site development costs for the candidate sites.  Limitations placed by property owners on site access required some estimates based upon comparable site development within the market areas.  Cost per developed acre of land was estimated in order to provide a basis of comparison.

Success

Realty Trust Group was able to deliver to the Client an independent review and analysis of properties previously identified by the Client and to further identify alternative sites which had not been previously considered.  The Client is initiating  site acquisition negotiations to secure selected property.