Before an investor commits to a project, the focus is on understanding what the site can realistically support, what risks exist around it, and whether the opportunity aligns with the client’s objectives from a planning, delivery and commercial perspective.

The process starts with due diligence. Ground conditions, flood risk, infrastructure capacity, planning history, transport connections and local context all influence how a project moves forward. Some of the most important considerations are not visible from the site itself. The planning history, infrastructure limitations, community sensitivities or wider constraints around the surrounding area are all key to the predictability of the return.

“We are always looking at all the other factors that influence a potential site’s ability to deliver a return.” — Robert Keran

Understanding those factors requires a knowledge of practical delivery alongside structured planning and commercial analysis. Internally, the team often describes that balance as “wellies and laptops” because early-stage decisions rely as much on understanding what happens on the ground as they do on structured strategic thinking behind the scenes.

This structure extends beyond coordinating consultants or managing programme timelines. At an early stage, projects also require commercial oversight, strategic decision-making and continuous coordination between planning, delivery and operational requirements as the development evolves.

Our services do not just extend to project management. We offer development management services also. We have the ability to manage the project for the across multiple facets.

Project management focuses on coordinating the design team and contractor as a project moves through delivery. Development management aligns more closely with the client side of the process, helping shape the wider strategy around the development itself.

Establishing the project brief, understanding funding requirements, coordinating statutory processes, managing development budgets, reviewing operational considerations with future operators and ensuring long-lead items are progressing early enough to avoid delays later.

On larger projects, many of those responsibilities are managed internally within a developer organisation. For smaller developers or investor-led projects, they are often spread across multiple parties with no single point of coordination.

“You have to understand how a development will actually function on the ground, not just how it appears on a drawing.”— Robert Keran

Having a high level of oversight allows decisions to be assessed against the practical realities of delivery, operation and long-term project performance. Risks can be identified earlier, opportunities can be tested properly and project direction can be established with greater clarity before significant time or capital is committed.

Coordination becomes increasingly important once projects begin moving from feasibility into active delivery. Irish Water applications, statutory approvals, consultant appointments, infrastructure queries and funding requirements all move at different speeds. If those items are not being tracked early, delays begin building into the project long before construction starts on site.

“The practical realities of a site usually determine how successful a project becomes later.”— Mary Rose O’Donnell

Process is essential. Risk registers, standardised operating procedures, structured meeting systems and document controls create consistency across projects and ensure information is managed properly as teams expand and delivery progresses.

Once the broader context around a site has been understood, the next step is establishing a realistic direction for the project itself. That includes defining what level of development the site can genuinely support, how it should be managed and if the opportunity aligns with the client’s commercial objectives.

This process relies on clear and objective advice early. Expectations around programme, planning, infrastructure requirements and possible objections all influence whether a project should proceed as originally intended, evolve into a different approach or pause altogether before unnecessary cost is incurred.

“Our role is to make all of the potential issues known at the earliest stages so that they can be dealt with in advance.”— Robert Keran

Honesty is important at the outset of a project. In some cases, the right advice is to step away from a site entirely. In others, the opportunity remains strong but requires a different strategy to unlock it successfully.

On one residential site, previous proposals had struggled because of flood risk constraints. The site had effectively been viewed as unworkable. Instead of treating the flood risk as a limiting factor, the approach shifted towards understanding how the constraint could be designed around by looking at the site from several perspectives at once.

By raising the building level and integrating parking beneath the structure, the proposal responded directly to the realities of the site while still maintaining a workable development for the client.

Early-stage problem solving often comes from understanding how decisions made at the planning stage will influence construction, operation and long-term viability later in the project lifecycle.

Development management begins long before construction starts on site.

Learn more about Foundation’s Development Management approach here.

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