Topic 11- Project Management
Site acquisition is planned and performed in an organized project context. Work assignments are composed of numerous tasks and subtasks. Each task is assigned a start date, a duration period, and a resulting completion date. Receipt of search areas, also known as search rings, is the starting point for site acquisition activities. Search areas are designed by radio frequency (RF) engineers for the acquisition of new sites to meet carrier coverage objectives. Site acquisition consultants are accountable to a client point of contact directing the real estate development portion of the project, usually a real estate specialist or project manager.
Upon receipt of the search areas, the initial site acquisition tasks are to evaluate, locate, and identify existing structures, zoning districts, code regulations, real property ownership, and environmental considerations such as bodies of water, floodplains, potential interference, and air navigation conflicts. Detailed due diligence efforts are undertaken to qualify candidate locations for the site selection process. Such activities are discussed further in Module 8 Search Area Mapping; Module 9 Zone-ability; Module 10 Constructability; and Module 11 Lease-ability.
After site selection, the project context changes to the development of the selected location. Preparation of a site selected for construction includes the development of engineered drawings, acquisition of space rights, and permit rights procurement. While site acquisition tasks may be complete once a site is ready to build, until and after the facility is operational the site acquisition consultant may be called upon for ongoing assistance. The process of preparing sites for construction is discussed in Module 16 Project Initiation; Module 27 Final Space Rights; and Module 28 Local Permit Applications.
Members of the overall project team include the client point of contact, a radio frequency (RF) engineer, a construction manager, an attorney, an architecture and engineering (A&E) firm, a surveyor, draftsmen, a title insurance company, a structural engineer, and an environmental consultant (EC). Conference calls with the client point of contact are common on a weekly basis to discuss current details affecting the site acquisition progress of each site or project. Externally, site acquisition consultants are engaged in meeting the public and representing the client to property owners, county and municipal authorities, and neighborhood groups.
A more in-depth treatment of project management applied to the context of this book is offered during the Site Development Process #13 discussion in Level VII Training also being applied as an addendum to the Section III content in another format.
