Services

The first steps of a capital project are always answering questions, whether related to what an organization needs, if an existing or candidate property fits your needs, or how much a project will cost, just to mention a few. Merganser can work with your organization’s leadership, board, and staff to clarify and begin to answer those questions.

Depending on the potential project’s scope, Merganser will work with you to engage a project team for a finite study period, which might include an architect, engineering consultants, real estate agents, cost estimators, and/or a general contractor. The typical result of this work will be a feasibility report offering a proposed project scope, timeline, and high-level budget. This report can help to guide your organization’s planning, board decision-making, and fundraising capacity analysis.

As a project begins to pick up momentum, planning for and tracking costs accurately can be a challenge. Although each team member can typically estimate their expenses well, Merganser is able to integrate all of a project’s costs—from external vendors, such as the general contractor, to internal costs, such as capital campaign staffing time—to create a comprehensive project budget. We then typically track and organize the project’s monthly invoices, maintain accurate records of spending to date, and coordinate with your organization’s accounting team to ensure that the project’s monthly invoices are paid.

What goes hand-in-hand with budget management? Fundraising, of course., Merganser frequently supports an organization’s fundraising efforts by providing project narratives and budget information tailored to fit a donor’s or grant application’s specific formatting request. Once a grant has been awarded, we frequently work with our clients’ accounting teams to ensure that the correct invoices are tracked for reimbursement and that grant funds are requested in a timely manner to best support the overall project’s cash flow.

As a project builds momentum and project funding comes together, Merganser works with the project owner to start the often-lengthy task of designing and permitting the project. This can include interviewing and selecting design team members and negotiating professional service contracts.

At Merganser, we are skilled in collecting the significant amount of information that a design team needs from the owner in order to design a project that meets an organization’s needs. This information includes everything from staffing projections and important layout requirements to details about IT infrastructure and utility service needs.

Depending on the project’s particulars, it often can make sense to engage a general contractor during the design process. Doing so ensures that a project’s scope and budget remain in alignment as the design progresses. Merganser can again take the lead in identifying candidate companies and organizing the selection process as well as helping to structure the contractor’s engagement during this preconstruction phase of their work.

A capital project’s construction is the culmination of years of planning, and it is also the most demanding project phase for the project’s owner. Construction often represents three-quarters or more of a project’s total cost, and every day of a fully staffed construction project can represent thousands of dollars of overhead costs.

Merganser typically serves as the owner’s representative during a construction project’s numerous meetings and site visits, ensuring that the owner fulfills its many requirements under the construction contract. Active engagement in the construction process also allows us to stay alert for challenges as they arise, helping to control project costs and ensuring that the architect, owner, and contractor work together successfully throughout construction, which can be a lengthy and challenging phase of the project.

Because construction can be so demanding, project owners sometimes realize that they need assistance as the project nears the beginning of this phase. Even if we haven’t been involved in everything beforehand, Merganser is experienced in joining projects at this phase and taking them through construction successfully. Although some challenges naturally arise when entering a project after most of the design decisions have already been made, we can still help shepherd the project through construction and advocate effectively for the owner’s best interests.

As a construction project begins to near completion, the project owner often has numerous tasks to complete before a facility is ready for use. The list can include organizing specialist vendors to install network equipment, purchasing and delivering furniture, installing signage, and simply moving an organization’s existing belongings into the new space. Every project is different at this phase, but Merganser is happy to organize these various needs and make sure that your space is truly ready for you.

At the same time the owner is moving in, the construction team is winding down, and numerous handover and project closeout tasks need to be completed. Typically, these tasks require someone to ensure that the correct people in an organization are receiving the training they need to operate the building and that complete project records are turned over by the contractor. Merganser, as the owner’s representative, is again able to coordinate this effort, ensuring that as your real estate project winds down, your new space can serve your organization’s important mission for years to come.