Baker Tilly aids rural town in corridor redevelopment planning

Client background

A subsidiary of private university located in the Midwest.

The business challenge

Baker Tilly was contracted by a redevelopment subsidiary of a private university in the Midwest to develop an RFP for master planning development services on their main street development initiative. The initiative is a multifaceted economic development initiative that will develop approximately $100 million in assets along the one-mile corridor that connects the university to downtown. The RFP process sought a master planning/architecture partner to support the implementation of a master plan by refining initial concepts, designing certain assets, and coordinating the efforts of multiple development partners to yield a cohesive outcome.  Baker Tilly further supported the client by reviewing and scoring proposals.

Strategy and solution

Baker Tilly collaborated with the client to create an effective RFP with a clearly defined project background, scope of work, proposal requirements, evaluation criteria, and submission instructions. The RFP resulted in ten proposal responses. Baker Tilly created a scoring matrix and evaluations guidelines to ensure proposals were reviewed through a consistent and thorough process. This approach ensured that the selected proposal was best aligned with the client's needs and project objectives.

Baker Tilly’s Municipal Advisory and Real Estate Advisory teams provided complementary solutions to support the client in projecting financial returns of the development project. Additional services provided included estimating the annual tax increment from the proposed project as well as developing an operating pro forma and a return analysis. Through cross-team collaboration, Baker Tilly provided the client with deliverables that established a development team and informed decision making through financial forecasting.