CASE STUDIES
Urban & Real Estate Development
Region: Switzerland alpine region
Client Background & Challenges
The client is an important Lawyers’ practice with offices in main Swiss cities.
They represent owners of chalets in the Swiss alps confronted with a large-scale development potentially blocking their pristine mountain views and creating a serious impact on their quality of life.
The project was initially accepted by the authorities and given the go-ahead based on business case assumptions and based on studies that promise the city authorities important returns in terms of employment and taxes.
The client needed strategic and operational input in order to challenge the assumptions and make the city authorities more aware of the real potential and impact of this project.
The client was particularly interested in Orizon Advise’s expertise in project management, in business case validation and in operational hospitality knowledge.
Solution
Initial market study to understand the current and future market this project would exist in.
Invalidation of certain business case assumptions that did not match with the reality of the destination.
Benchmarking with other destinations and similar projects in order to show the city administration that some key assumptions were far-fetched at best.
Reality check on induced environmental impact in terms of mobility, noise and disturbances created by a project of this scale.
Achievements & Value for the Client
The client was successful in demonstrating to the authorities that the assumptions supporting the project acceptance were not of the magnitude as suggested by the developer and that future investment needs by authorities for making the project viable in current shape and form were too onerous vs the potential returns.
The project was rescaled with much less environmental impact for the owners of the chalets that were first threatened by the scale of the project.
The reduction in scale and rearrangement of the project through better use of land and intensification of the existing sqm of built facilities did not substantially affect the project profitability.
Behind every project is a team that lives and breathes service excellence.