Market selection is not site selection.
Site selection turns the location strategy into a property-level decision. GCA identifies and compares buildings and land sites, tests key assumptions, coordinates due diligence information, and establishes the lease or acquisition alternatives available to the client.
Q1Which of these buildings can actually run our operation — not just house it?
Q2Will the grid support us, and when?
Q3Can we staff three shifts here at our target wage?
Q4What will the landlord or seller actually do — and by when?
A 12.5 km radius would claim 10× this ground.
Solved over the road network and routed toward the plant — a commute is not symmetric, and one-way roads do not reverse cleanly. Bands at 5, 10 and 15 minutes: thirty flatters every site, and the close-in bands are what separate two finalists.
The labor shed, mapped before the lease
Every finalist site is evaluated through its practical commute bands — who can actually reach the facility, shift by shift, against competing employers in the same shed.
Monterrey metro — the airport industrial corridor
Property marketing information is the starting point — not the conclusion.
A supportable decision requires a consistent comparison of facility fit, infrastructure, workforce access, transportation, development schedule, risk, cost, and the terms a landlord or seller is prepared to offer.
Building or land suitability
- Building size, parcel size, configuration, and expansion potential
- Clear height, bay spacing, loading, truck court, trailer parking, employee parking, and circulation where relevant
- Manufacturing, warehouse, office, and support-space requirements
- Zoning, permitted use, entitlements, and development considerations
- Required construction, improvements, or retrofit work
- Availability and project schedule
Utilities and infrastructure
- Electric power, natural gas, water, wastewater, telecommunications, and other operating requirements
- Available service information and potential upgrade requirements
- Coordination with utility providers and qualified engineers
- Estimated schedule, cost responsibility, and implementation dependencies
- Written confirmation where available
Utility providers and qualified engineers must provide final capacity, design, cost, and service confirmations.
Workforce and transportation access
- Practical commute area and labor shed
- Labor availability, required skills, wages, and competing employers
- Shift schedules and employee transportation considerations
- Highway, port, rail, airport, customer, and supplier access where applicable
Due diligence and risk coordination
- Zoning, title, survey, flood, environmental, geotechnical, seismic, wind, and other location-specific considerations
- Identification of issues requiring specialist review
- Coordination with the client’s counsel, engineers, environmental consultants, insurers, and other advisors
- Issue tracking, responsibilities, and deadlines
Real estate and business terms
- Asking rent, purchase price, and market comparables
- Operating expenses, taxes, and estimated occupancy costs
- Tenant improvement allowances, landlord work, and other contributions
- Delivery condition and schedule obligations
- Economic incentives and interaction with property terms
- Expansion, renewal, termination, assignment, sublease, and purchase rights where applicable
Typical deliverables
- Facility requirements summary and property criteria
- Market survey and candidate property list
- Building and site comparison matrix
- Site-tour and inspection coordination
- Utility and infrastructure information log
- Labor-shed and transportation-access review
- Due diligence issue tracker
- Lease or purchase-term comparison
- Finalist recommendation and transaction strategy
When the market short list exists
Site selection converts market conclusions into a property-level decision — the criteria carry straight through.
Before signing a letter of intent
Diligence discipline is worth the most before terms are fixed — utilities, title, zoning, and labor reality checked while leverage remains.
When a build-to-suit is on the table
Developer proposals are tested against the same requirements and economics as existing buildings — a single, like-for-like comparison.
The “available now” trap
Availability is a schedule fact, not a suitability argument. Fit, infrastructure, and labor reach are tested first.
Power discovered too late
Substation feasibility and interconnection timelines can break a schedule. They are confirmed before the deal, not during construction.
Labor sheds read from a radius
A circle on a map is not a commute. Real drive-times, competing employers, and shift patterns define the practical shed.
Diligence findings without owners
Every issue gets a named owner, a responsibility, and a deadline — an issue tracker, not a surprise at closing.