Real Estate Development Study

Project Phases

1. Phase 1 – Initiate and Mobilize

   Secure commitment, mobilize the team and commence data collection

   This phase includes those tasks necessary to solidify mutual understanding of the project scope, objectives, deliverables, and timing, as well as ensuring that appropriate client and consultant resources are available and well-coordinated.

   Task 1.1 – Complete preliminary project planning

   Develop a high-level project plan showing major work steps, timelines, milestones, and resource assignments

   • Confirm consulting team staffing, work assignments and availability
   • Prepare an agenda and other briefing materials for project initiation/kickoff activities

   Task 1.2 – Formally initiate the project

   • Complete an online initial entry meeting with the City’s project leadership team to commence the project and solidify a mutual understanding of the overall objectives, scope, schedule, and deliverables
   • Establish points of contact and the project "chain of command"
   • Review and agree on communication, status reporting and control procedures to be used
   • Finalize the project scope, workplan, schedule and budget

   ​​​​​​​Task 1.3 – Mobilize the project team

   • Brief the project team on the project plan and expectations
   • Prepare and deliver an initial data request checklist including, for example, such items as:
     • City ordinances, goals, objectives, policies, performance standards and measures related to planning and development, economic development, plan review, permitting and building inspections
     • Existing planning, building inspection and related process documentation, informational materials and brochures, flow charts, etc.
     • Comprehensive plan and future land use maps
     • Current and three prior years’ City and departmental budgets and staffing authorizations
     • City and departmental organization charts
     • Three years’ prior and current year workload volumes (permits, permit values, plan reviews, etc.), performance goals and results
     • Listing and documentation of current automated systems supporting development review and permitting services
     • Any prior in-house or independently prepared audits, performance reviews or management studies, development services, economic development activities and related business functions
   • Develop and review interview and focus group guides

2. Phase 2 – Probe

   Understand the current state organization, processes, and technology

   After the project is fully mobilized, the Baker Tilly team will apply its experience, knowledge, and skill to discover the current state of the City’s real estate development process in terms of organizational structure, workload and staffing, business process, facilities, technology, and results. Using interviews, process workshops, surveys and other stakeholder involvement techniques, this phase represents the primary data collection component of the methodology

   Task 2.1 – Review background documents and data

   Review provided background data and documentation to develop an initial understanding of the organizational structure, staffing, goals, objectives, and results of the residential development review process.

   Task 2.2 – Conduct interviews with key managers and supervisors

   • Schedule and conduct a series of individual interviews as agreed in Phase 1 including, for example, managers and supervisors with responsibility for the regulatory functions impacting residential development planning and zoning, residential subdivision plats and site plan reviews, building permitting and inspection and closely related service functions.
   • Review and understand business objectives, current and project workload volumes, and key performance indicators related to residential/housing development. Interview topics may include such items as: 
     • Basic service delivery goals, objectives, performance measures, standards, and targets.
     • Identification of key issues, opportunities and constraints regarding residential development review and approval processes
     • Customer service issues and how these have been recently addressed.
     • Growth and other external/environmental trends impacting operations.
     • Sufficiency of office space and facilities for both staff and applicants
     • Adequacy of information technology, data management and reporting capabilities, and the extent to which managers use information to make decisions.
     • Resource constraints impacting operations, both now and as expected in the coming years.

   Task 2.3 – Engage external residential development process stakeholders

   • Identify external stakeholder concerns and suggestions through targeted individual interviews with up to five local housing development industry leaders and a series of three facilitated outreach/focus group sessions including: 
     • District Council representatives
     • Legacy single-family, multi-family and mixed-use developers
     • Emerging/BIPOC residential developers
   • Develop and administer an online survey to collect input from the residential development community including developers, design professionals and single family and multi-family builders.
   • To the extent necessary, utilize technology tools and techniques for virtual engagement.
   • Summarize identified issues, constraints and improvement opportunities within the residential development review, approval, permitting and inspections processes at each of the stages of the development review cycle, from initial application through closure.

   Scope revisions for Task 2.3 include the following: + Per the request of the city, Baker Tilly will substitute two focus groups intended to gather feedback from two populations - 1) legacy single-family, multi-family and mixed-use developers, and 2) emerging/BIPOC residential developers with a total of eight interviews (four interviews per target population). + The addition of eight interviews designed for the legacy single-family, multi-family and mixed-use developers and the emerging/BIPOC residential developers will be in addition to the previously agreed upon targeted interviews, focus groups, and online survey that will be administered as noted in the original contract between Baker Tilly and the City.  This will result in: 13 Interviews 1 focus group with District Council representatives 1 online survey designed to collect input from the residential development community including developers, design professionals, and single family/multifamily builders.

   Task 2.4 – Complete comparative data collection and analysis

   • Assemble a set of suggested comparable cities to include in a comparative analysis of organizational structures, staffing levels and workload volumes by functional area.
   • Collect and compile comparative data into a tabular summary including the following kinds of information: 
     • Listing of each evaluation comparable standard for each City included in the survey.
     • Our evaluation of the degree to which the department is above or below the average for the group of comparable cities.
   • Provide an analysis of the conditions that seem to be major factors contributing to any substantial difference between the organizational structures and staffing levels in the City vs. the comparable cities.

   Task 2.5 – Conduct “as-is” processes workshops

   Organize and lead process documentation session of approximately two hours duration with internal residential development process owners to document existing single family and multi-family residential development review and approval, permitting and inspection processes. Subject to confirmation with the City’s project leadership, groups to be scheduled will include the staff members involved in:

   • Single-family and multi-family plan review and approval
   • Building permitting and inspections.
   • Zoning, variance, and historical perseveration reviews

   For each process group, we will seek to document and understand key processes steps and sequencing, process owners and supporting technologies and identify key process issues, constraints, and opportunities for improvement.

   As needed, these discovery sessions can be accomplished via virtual means.

   Deliverable: Summary of information gathered from department review of real estate development processes and interactions with prospective developers.

   Task 2.3 in the revised workplan calls for Baker Tilly to conduct targeted interviews with up to five local real estate industry leaders and the facilitation of three facilitated focus groups including District Council representatives, legacy residential developers and emerging BIPOC residential developers. That task includes the preparation of a written summary of the issues, constraints and opportunities identified through both the external outreach and the internal interviews with city staff (Task 2.2).

   Deliverable: A cross-functional process map of entire development processes/services that includes work activities & key decisions across Department of Safety and Inspection (DSI), to Planning and Economic Development (PED), Public Works (PW), and other city departments as needed/identified, as well as community engagement processes with stakeholders such as district councils, business associations, etc.

   Task 2.5 involves the documentation the documentation of the existing end-to-end development process – including the mapping of cross departmental interactions, hand-offs, external touch points, etc. We will then assess the issues, constraints, and improvement opportunities within the existing process and, in Task 4.1, prepare a recommended “to-be” process flow.

3. Phase 3 – Analyze

   Identify organizational, operational and process issues, constraints, and opportunities

   Consultants will work with the staff of the Planning, Building Inspection and Engineering divisions to assess and analyze the impact of a variety of factors relevant to the redesign of business processes. These include the adoption of best practices, staffing and resource requirements, facilities, and the capability of existing technologies.

   Task 3.1 – Analyze business process efficiency and responsiveness

   • Review “as-is” development process documentation for bottlenecks, non-value-added activities, manual processing, excessive review and rework, long cycle times and other potential inefficiencies, including all processes or process groups reviewed in the prior phase.
   • Compare and contrast the City’s residential development-related processes to best practices and standards for planning, development, permitting and inspection services.
   • Identify potential “to-be” process improvements to address identified inefficiencies or to capture opportunities to simplify, streamline or otherwise enhance services.

   Task 3.2 – Assess organizational structure and staffing

   • Evaluate the adequacy of staffing and resource allocations to functional service areas and departments considering current and expected service demand.
   • Assess spans of managerial and supervisory control and the organizational placement of functions and responsibility relative to importance in meeting operating and service objectives.
   • Review staff training and development programs and succession management.
   • Assess the clarity of lines of authority, responsibility, and communication.

   Task 3.3 – Evaluate current planning and permitting technology

   • Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of software applications and other technologies supporting the development review, permitting and inspections processes with a view towards improving accuracy, promoting transparency, reducing paperwork, and reducing wait times.
   • Identify gaps between existing system capabilities and functionality available in the current land development and permitting system market.
   • Evaluate opportunities to adopt and integrate mobile computing platforms and devices to streamline processes and increase efficiency.

   Task 3.4 – Analyze stakeholder satisfaction

   • Based on the results of the stakeholder engagement process, assess the effectiveness of customer service and stakeholder engagement methods and diverse communication channels, both technological and personal.
   • Review the adequacy of communication and coordination between and among related operating units of City government.
   • Identify barriers to effective communication and understanding of processes, roles, and responsibilities.
   • Assess the sufficiency and ease of access to online information regarding the various aspects of the development process.
   • Prepare a summary of the development community feedback received.

   Task 3.5 – Prioritize process improvement opportunities

   • Triage development review process improvement opportunities based on potential and cost. This triage activity will identify:
     • Processes which do not appear to need modification.
     • Quick hits – changes that can or should, be made quickly, easily and at minimum cost to the city.
     • Processes for Redesign – those processes which do not lend themselves to quick implementation.
     • Document preliminary findings and improvement opportunities and brief the city on progress.

4. Phase 4 – Clarify

   Design, review and refine the future-state operational model

   Here the process analysis team will apply all the information and knowledge acquired to this point in the project to create updated business processes that will enable Planning, Building Inspections and Engineering to better serve the needs and expectations of the City’s leadership, applicants, and the public at large.

   Task 4.1 – Develop “to-be” organizational, staffing and process model

   • Evaluate each high-level process for potential:
   • Elimination of unnecessary or duplicative tasks
   • Removal of process “bottlenecks”
   • Re-sequencing of tasks
   • Parallel vs. sequential review
   • Leverage of technology solutions
   • Prepare and review high-level “to-be” processes

   Task 4.2 – Prepare draft report of findings and recommendations

   • Develop a set of recommended improvement concepts and action steps in terms of both “quick hit” opportunities and those improvements that may require more time, effort, or investment to implement
   • Conduct a working briefing on the draft organizational, operational and technology improvements and associated recommendations for review and comment by the City’s project leadership team.
   • Receive feedback, both positive and negative, on recommended changes

   Task 4.3 – Complete follow-up data collection and analysis as needed

   • Collect additional data collection and complete further analysis based on the feedback provided on the Draft Report

   Task 4.4 – Prepare and review the final report and implementation plan

   • Based on feedback received from the review of the draft report, prepare a final report document incorporating corrections, clarifications, and other appropriate revisions
   • Develop an implementation roadmap identifying priorities, sequencing, and individual accountabilities for implementation action
   • Present the findings and recommendations to the City Council Audit Committee, City staff and other stakeholders as appropriate

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   Deliverable: Recommendations for development policies that are supported by an analysis of information gathered, outlining specific concerns about access, barriers to entry, and challenges specific to new and emerging developers. The analysis should include an assessment of how specific policies have differing impacts across various types of developers.

   Phase 4 of the project plan includes the development of both draft and final recommendations for improvement of the development process based on the results the analysis conducted in Phase 3. That analysis includes an analysis of business process efficiency and responsiveness, organizational structure, and staffing, planning, and permitting technology, and stakeholder satisfaction. This analysis will include an assessment of how existing policies and practices impact participants in the development process. Additionally, the firm’s real estate group, through its work with underrepresented developers, has access to developers with a diverse set of experiences within the City of Saint Paul and the greater Twin Cities market who can provide valuable feedback to inform our recommendations.

   Deliverable: Actionable recommendations for process improvements, which may include streamlining business processes and work methods, incorporating best practices from other jurisdictions, and tool or handbook templates for a more effective development process for City departments and better experience overall for developers.

   The draft report of findings and recommendations (Task 4.2) will address the improvement opportunities identified throughout the data collection and analysis tasks in prior phases. This draft will be submitted to the city for review and comment and revised as appropriate based on feedback received to create a final report of recommendations with a recommended implementation plan.

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