When can the process be made public without raising the concern of our authorizing stakeholders (OMB, Congress) and without driving up the site costs?
The premature release of project-specific site information can create speculative land purchases and inflated land value. However, it’s difficult to validate the claim that discreet discussions with public officials and design professionals early in the project will change the market’s knowledge enough to significantly affect site costs. Discussions with public officials may be done at a relatively low profile, but once brokers or other players in the local market are brought in, it is hard to keep a lid on it. Care must be taken in these early discussions to fully investigate all alternatives and to avoid making commitments or giving the impression that a site has been preselected. By the time the Site and Design Prospectus has been submitted to Congress, open public discussions can occur. Two reminders: (1) Both the schedule and the funding available for site acquisition will be in public documents (the Site and Design Prospectus) before authorization is granted to acquire a site. (2
