The Keystone Land Acquisition Team
Keystone specializes in Voluntary Land Acquisition Programs in support of municipal, provincial, and federal government land planning, acquisition and disaster mitigation strategies. We are established leaders in the development of voluntary acquisition programs and designed and led one of the largest and most dynamic post-disaster buy-outs in North America.
A Voluntary Land Acquisition Program is a mechanism for government to acquire land in support of public uses such as flood-mitigation strategies. In terms of a natural disaster response, Voluntary Land Acquisition programs provide an opportunity to buy-out flood impacted properties as a negotiated settlement, establishing client program priorities, focusing on community engagement, and reducing the costs associated with expropriations or other compulsory schemes. It is the best option available when acquisition is needed.
Land acquisition and relocation as a proactive flood mitigation measure is becoming increasingly important to all levels of government, however, the post-disaster acquisition process lacks defined policy. Keystone works closely with our clients to develop a custom approach that meets their objectives, including providing preliminary advice on strategic and budget options. The development of a disaster response plan may be a multi-year process and understanding the acquisition processes available is critical to program success.
Voluntary Land Acquisition Team:
The voluntary acquisition team is multi-disciplined combining acquisition and valuation professionals with experience in both voluntary and compulsory models, legal and finance expertise, and community engagement specialists.
The scope of services provided include:
- Program design services including
- Program design engagement
- Program Strategic Master Planning
- Program Budgeting
- Program Implementation Scheduling
- Real estate valuation services
- Preliminary analysis for budgeting
- Acquisition valuation services
- Detailed detrimental condition analysis
- Program implementation services
- Full turn-key program management services
Findings and conclusions from our most recent Voluntary Land Acquisition Program, which had a voluntary acceptance rate of roughly 98%, are as follows:
Appraisal Institute of Canada – National Conference Presentation 2021
The Keystone team presented to the Appraisal Institute of Canada’s National Conference on “Voluntary Land Acquisition and Valuation in Natural Disasters”. The presentation focused on the team’s findings related to a multi-year Voluntary Land Acquisition Program they completed in Grand Forks, BC which had an acceptance rate of roughly 98%.
A copy of this video can be found in the link and form below.
The presentation was summarized as follows:
“In 2018 the City of Grand Forks in British Columbia experienced catastrophic flooding due to exceptionally high freshet that breached existing City dyke works. Hundreds of homes and commercial businesses were devastated. In 2019 the BC government announced a federal and provincial sponsored flood mitigation strategy that included the acquisition and removal of 140 residential properties.
“Keystone Appraisals Inc. were awarded a government tendered contract to design and implement a voluntary land acquisition program which ultimately proved to be one of the most successful large scale voluntary programs in Canadian history with an acceptance rate of over 98%. The presentation will cover the unique program design, and valuation/negotiation challenges and successes.”
In order to view the presentation please provide your name, business name (if applicable) and your email address in the following form and the video player will appear below.
Thank you.