About Us
We Specialize in Comprehensively Estimating Costs, Benefits,
Values and Impacts of Projects, Properties and Policies.
The Cost Benefit Group
(CBG), applies state-of-the-art economic and financial theory and models
-- and troves of treasured data -- to assist clients in the following areas:
- Changes in real estate property
values arising from toxic contamination or proximity to numerous sources
of property value changes
- Cost-Benefit or Benefit/Cost
Analysis of a wide variety of programs policies and projects, most notably
those pertaining to the environment
- Quantifying the costs of sprawl
and the benefits of “smart growth”
- Analysis of brownfield
redevelopment options
- Evaluating the financial impact
of waste reduction, recycling, removal and disposal options
- The costs and benefits of
measures to prevent climate change or mitigate the impacts through
resilience.
We are known for quantifying costs and benefits -- from the
decline in real estate prices resulting from a toxic chemical leak, to the
social costs arising from a body of water rendered unavailable for recreational
use, to the benefits of breathing clean air. We can also determine the number
of jobs gained or lost under a variety of scenarios. The Cost Benefit Group
offers a unique combination of:
- Simple
-- but effective -- graphics presentations
- State-of-the-art
computer models
- Databases
of cost benefit and damage studies that facilitate quick turnaround at
moderate costs
- Expertise
in real estate, finance, economics, government, and environmental policy
- Thorough
searches of economic literature and databases
- The
creativity needed to measure all costs & benefits, even where effects
appear to be impossible to quantify
The Cost Benefit Group has produced studies of 1,450 properties
worth more than $3 billion dollars in 140 counties and 30 states. Our
associates have also evaluated the economic and financial impacts of major
power plant construction projects (worth more than $10 billion), utility rates,
and environmental hazards upon employment, income, corporate balance sheets,
real estate markets, municipalities and utilities. We have appraised vacant
land; shopping centers; apartment complexes; office buildings; automobile
dealerships; industrial buildings; nursing homes; a marina; and hotels.
These projects were commissioned by Citibank; Chase Manhattan
Bank; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation; Chinese American Bank; Home the State of New York;
several law firms throughout the country, and other institutions.