Overview

We start by understanding your employees and your clients

MDS is a full-service, turn-key development company dedicated to meeting the public sector’s real estate needs. Throughout every government agency project, we seek to understand your employees as well as their clients, and then we design each facility to meet the service delivery requirements of both unique constituencies.

MDS’s approach to developing government facilities sets us apart in that we take an active lead role in addressing all five fundamental phases of facilities development:

• Site selection
• Space planning
• Building design and construction
• Lease negotiations and financing
• Building management

Site Selection

The most important decision is your first decision

Selecting a site can be confusing, complex, and extremely challenging. If you make a mistake here, you place your project in jeopardy before the first shovel hits the ground. Our goal is to simplify this process so you can make the right decision.

Did you know there is a real estate degree in Site Selection Feasibility? We’ve got one

From determining overall cost structures to assessing location viability, MDS gathers all the information you will need, upfront, to equip the decision makers with all the necessary criteria required to evaluate and choose a potential site. Collected data includes:

• Physical characteristics
• Location demographics
• Commuting patterns
• Transportation corridors
• Short- and long-term cost analysis
• Applicable tax implications

Space Planning

The right mix of form and function

MDS fully understands the value of a custom-designed workspace, which is why our team works closely with you to learn and understand your work processes and flows before designing the space plan. How your employees interact among themselves and with clients is critical to creating an effective work space.

Combining form with function, our collaborative team approach ensures you are investing in a comfortable, cost effective, efficient, and productive working environment.

Building Design & Construction

Construction experience is our strength, not an afterthought

Working hand-in-hand with your team, MDS will develop everything from concept and design plans to budgets and financing. In order to ensure that the building meets all design, functionality, and budgetary criteria, we lead the collaborative effort between you, the architect, and the building contractor. We have the construction experience in-house to ensure that the building designed is the same building completed.

The most successful design projects begin with careful planning and programming, areas where we work closely with you to learn not just about your requirements, but your preferences and overall mission. Budgets are tight, making it essential to get the design right the first time. We involve the architect right from the start to minimize time and expense.

Attention to detail sets us apart

Project construction takes place over many months, and we’re involved every day to represent your project objectives. During the construction phase, MDS:

• Works closely with the general contractor to deliver the facility on time and within budget.
• Coordinates the planning, preparation and installation of specialized equipment, including computers and telecommunications.

Lease Negotiation & Financing

Outsource your project and your risk

As part of our core services, MDS procures both construction financing and long-term financing for your projects. Most importantly, MDS assumes all risks during the construction phase of each project.

MDS has pioneered a unique financing program that provides government agencies the opportunity to occupy premier facilities while providing the local municipality with an income stream sufficient to retire a mortgage debt.

Lease Negotiations

 MDS principals and associates have negotiated leases for more than 1 million square feet of space. Once the building site has been identified and a space plan is developed, lease negotiations begin. A financial package is developed to meet your budgetary parameters.

At the end of the lease term – typically 20 years – the county or municipality owns the property free and clear for the remaining life of the property, which can range from 30-50 years.

Financing

Through global financing sources, MDS has successfully arranged tax-exempt financing for many local municipalities at better rates than they would have procured on their own. This type of financing offers a number of advantages:

• Eliminates the risk assumed by county or municipal governments.
• Eliminates project down payment requirements by the county or municipality.
• Allows the county or municipal government to build a facility without incurring debt.
• Builds an income stream of lease payments from the tenant (government agency), while providing a way for the county or municipality to own the building free and clear at the end of the financing term.

Building Management

MDS and Transwestern – the performance advantage

In strategic partnership with MDS, Transwestern provides property management services to all facilities developed by MDS. With a portfolio of more than 280 million square feet nationally and 33 million square feet managed out of its Atlanta, Georgia office, Transwestern serves as the nation’s strongest resource for property and facility management and adds quantifiable value to its clients. As such, representatives of local and governmentally owned properties look to Transwestern for operational excellence that will impact the bottom line.

Transwestern retains top-notch property management talent and offers the best skills development in the industry. Transwestern’s managers are dedicated to enhancing property value through all aspects of operations, industry-leading tenant relations programs, strategic planning, building enhancement programs, and accurate financial reporting. Each project engineer is uniquely trained to decrease operating costs and increase optimal building performance. Transwestern’s ultimate objective is to augment the value of the property over the long and short term as well as to increase the useful life of the facility.

For more information on Transwestern, visit: www.transwestern.com

Click here to view some MDS projects.