Our services
AREcon's Services:
The following provides details to many of the specific services AREcon provides in support of its clients' natural resource development, acquisition and management activities:
Feasibility Assessment
Jason Bass, President of AREcon, applies his extensive accounting, financial and economic training and experience to perform detailed evaluations of the investment return potential of proposed real estate developments and acquisitions. These analyses are typically used by AREcon's natural resource developer and investor clients to identify the most profitable and competitively optimal option among the alternatives contemplated. For every feasibility assignment, AREcon carefully considers the true capital, non-labor input and human resource costs, constraints and opportunities that are expected to influence a natural resource asset's future performance. The firm also works closely with engineers, land planners and other technicians to assess resource availability and quality, and potential development-related construction and operation costs. In addition, the firm thoroughly assesses and justifies its assumptions on investment return targets (i.e., discount rates) given client risk profiles, project risk profiles, and alternative available opportunities for investment. With respect to risk, the firm often applies statistical method to evaluate the magnitude and direction of historical variability in key metrics to accurately frame probabilities associated with those metrics and the risk to potential asset investment return and value performance going forward.
Financial Modeling and Deal Structuring
Jason Bass, President of AREcon, offers the firm's clients a wide range of MS Excel-based financial and economic modeling services. These macro-based, menu-driven models are developed to be highly flexible and user friendly. They are designed on a project-specific basis to provide developers, investors and planners with a ready-made tool that can be used to quickly and accurately evaluate the investment implications of alternative assumptions on a particular project’s implementation parameters and investment return distribution waterfalls. The models are structured to be easily updated as evolving project dynamics necessitate. They typically provide the ability to sensitivity test assumptions on development timing, scale, cost, revenues, investment return requirements and capital structures (both debt and equity), among other variables/flexibilities requested and include graphic output to facilitate option evaluation. The models are linked to statistical assessments of historical variability of key variables such as prices, interest rates, costs, as a means to bound sensitivity assessments to actual market dynamics. While “past performance is no guarantee of future results” past performance is instructive on the expected order and magnitude of future variability in outcomes. These models may be used for a range of purposes including efforts to raise capital, support applications for public financing support and understand upside and downside outcomes to manage risk.
Market Evaluation
Jason Bass, President of AREcon, provides detailed assessments of the opportunities and constraints associated with the markets in which the firm's clients seek to develop and/or acquire natural resource assets. On the demand side, these efforts focus on historical utilization pattern modeling, demand driver identification and characterization, capture rate analyses, population and demographic assessments, regional economic condition and trend assessment, and elasticity measurement. On the supply side, these efforts focus on historical pricing pattern modeling, competitive supply inventory and positioning assessments, actual and potential development pipeline surveys, and regulatory evaluations. As warranted, Jason draws from a wide range of third-party data sources in support of his market evaluation work and also actively reaches out to other participants in the marketplace, including real estate investors and managers, to better understand first hand prevailing and anticipated future demand and supply dynamics.
Litigation Support
Jason Bass, President of AREcon, has extensive experience in providing natural resource-related, litigation support and expert witness services involving breach of contract, construction defect, dispute resolution and other matters. Much of the firm’s feasibility, valuation and other analyses are performed in the context of, or in anticipation of, litigation or other legal proceedings. Jason embraces the simple fact that preparation is the key to success in litigation. This extends from the quality and substance of research to the application of careful and credible analysis methods to the development of accurate and simple presentations that can be used to effectively communicate assumptions, methods and analysis findings to judges, juries, arbiters, mediators and others. Among its litigation support services, AREcon assists with:
- Document/data requests and review in support of discovery and litigation risk assessment,
- Data compilation and presentation,
- The development of alternative financial and economic arguments in support of client positions,
- Lost profit monetary damages assessment,
- The critical review of opposing expert opinions and analyses,
- Preparation of expert reports and expert opinions, and
- Oral and written testimony as a designated expert.
AREcon will not simply support any position but will strongly defend a position that the firm concludes to be credible and defensible through its independent research and analysis.
Valuation
Jason Bass, President of AREcon, has extensive experience in natural resource asset and business valuation in support of purchase and sale negotiations, condemnation proceedings, monetary damage assessments (in litigation), and tax-related matters. AREcon understands that accurate valuation is grounded in thorough research of the market for the subject asset and the specific physical, market and transaction characteristics that may affect the sale timing and pricing of the asset. In performing valuations, Jason typically combines data from historical comparable market-based transactions, to the extent available, with bottom-up assessments of the asset's actual or potential income-generation potential. Jason is particularly sensitive to the need, at times, to account for non-market considerations, such as portfolio diversification and risk management, in reaching its overall value conclusions for a particular client. The value an asset to one party may prove quite different than to another based on their respective appetites for risk, financial resources and portfolio objectives among a range of factors.
Capital Financing
Jason Bass, President of AREcon, the firm's his clients to obtain both debt and equity capital in support of their natural resource development and acquisition activities. Towards this end, AREcon develops detailed and professional deal packages tailored to conform to the specific information needs required by different capital sources targeted whether banks, funds and/or individuals. The firm also assists with developing prospect lists, reaching out to prospective capital sources, pitching the opportunity and negotiating final terms and obligations. Throughout the capital raise process, to the extent warranted, the firm is very careful to comply with all SEC and other requirements for the legal solicitation of capital from third-party sources.
Statistical and Econometric Analysis
Jason Bass, President of AREcon, has substantial training and experience with the application of statistical methods for the evaluation of trends and relationships in historical financial, economic and market data as well as the development of reasonable projections of future asset performance and general economic and demographic trends. In addition to forecasting, the firm frequently applies statistical methods to evaluate asset fixed versus variable operating costs based on historical cost, revenue and demand data for the accurate assessment of the cost and revenue implications of proposed changes in an asset's future management. AREcon also uses statistical methods as a means to evaluate the relative significance of the estimated economic impacts of natural resource development project implementation and to assess the risks associated with potential variation in metrics such as prices, interest rates and inflation as they may influence asset financial and economic performance.
Economic Impact Analysis
Jason Bass, President of AREcon, is expert in the customized application of the economic input-output modeling software ImPlan (for Impact Planning). ImPlan is a widely adopted tool for assessing the potential direct and secondary (multiplier) output, employment, tax and other economic effects of an anticipated discrete change in economic activity within a defined region. Examples of such a change in economic activity include the planned development of an oil and gas field. AREcon uses the economic impact estimates generated by the ImPlan model to project potential demographic, particularly population, effects and infrastructure needs associated with the initial anticipated change in economic activity being analyzed. The firm provides its clients with detailed reports explaining, (A) the ImPlan model’s functionality and, if relevant, customization, (B) the assumptions that are input into the model, and (C) the model’s output. The firm also evaluates the estimated economic impacts relative to the subject region’s existing economic conditions and performs comparative analyses of impacts across alternative natural resource development/management scenarios under consideration. The purpose of these analyses is to support development proposals and to facilitate decision-maker efforts to minimize adverse impacts and/or maximize beneficial impacts in their natural resource project/management planning. He has also used ImPlan in support of EB5 financing-related job creation assessments. Jason has also worked extensively with the RIMSII input-output model framework.
Fiscal Impact Analysis
Jason Bass, President of AREcon, provides the firm's clients with a broad array of fiscal impact analyses in support of their real estate entitlement, development an redevelopment activities. Very often local community and public stakeholders are keenly focused on the implications of a proposed natural resource project for the area's public financial situation. Accordingly, AREcon prepares analyses and reports summarizing the overall tax and fee benefits of natural resource project and business development. These analyses may include consideration of property tax, sales tax, transient occupancy tax, impact fee and other fiscal benefits.
Environmental Compliance
Jason Bass, President of AREcon, assists the firm's clients with the preparation of the socio-economic components of environmental compliance documentation under NEPA and State environmental regulations, including existing condition assessments, the establishment of significance criteria, impact evaluations, and mitigation analyses. The firm has expert knowledge of the precedence and guidelines that frame the evaluation of socio-economic impacts within the environmental compliance process. AREcon is adept at preparing these assessments in plain English with supporting graphics to facilitate public review, understanding and involvement. The firm assists with public meetings to make sure that the scope and limitations of its analyses are well understood by all stakeholders and to facilitate decision-making. The firm also works closely with its clients and other technicians to develop appropriate and implementable measures to mitigate anticipated adverse socio-economic impacts of a real estate development/redevelopment that are identified.
