EPS provides rigorous analysis and insightful solutions to address complex challenges in real estate development, land use policy, and local government finance. We are motivated by the role our work can play in shaping places where people live and we strive to create high-quality urban environments that advance the principles of diversity, resiliency, and shared prosperity.
EPS offers a wealth of experience, robust technical expertise, and the ability to offer insightful solutions to address the challenges and opportunities of urban development.
EPS played a key role in securing $43.7 million in federal funding for two agricultural infrastructure projects through the FY26 Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP). The awards will support critical improvements at commodity ports in Missouri and Virginia, strengthening supply chains, improving transportation efficiency, and advancing environmental sustainability.
Working in partnership with VAA Engineering, LLC, which led other components of the applications, EPS prepared the benefit-cost analysis (BCA) for a $27.3 million award to improve a fertilizer receiving port in West Quincy, Missouri. The analysis demonstrated how the investment will streamline freight movement, reduce delivery costs for farmers, and significantly cut truck traffic and emissions. The project is expected to eliminate more than 42 million truck miles.
For the second project, also in partnership with VAA, EPS prepared the BCA for a $16.4 million award supporting an intermodal agricultural export facility in Portsmouth, Virginia. The project will allow the facility to receive and process domestic freight rail shipments and to export commodities to Asian markets via Atlantic container vessel. EPS’s analysis showed that the investment will reduce 36 million domestic truck miles, save more than 13 million gallons of barge fuel over 30 years, and avoid more than 1,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
The full list of projects awarded under the FY25 PIDP can be found here.
EPS helped the City of Piedmont prepare the recently released Request for Developer Qualifications (RFQ) to finance and build housing on City-owned land located in the Moraga Canyon Specific Plan (MCSP). The RFQ is a key step toward implementing both the Specific Plan, approved in late 2025 with EPS assistance, and the City’s sixth Cycle Housing Element.
The MCSP area is situated in the northeast edge of Piedmont, a relatively small and affluent community in Alameda County, approximately 10 miles east of San Francisco. About five (5) of the overall 23-acre Moraga Canyon site may be developed for at least 132, but not more than 199, mixed-income housing units. Because at least 40 percent of the units must be restricted to households earning 60 percent of Area Medium Income (AMI) and below, the City is seeking an exemption from the Surplus Land Act. The City will enter into an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement (ENA) with the selected development team and ultimately execute a Disposition and Development Agreement (DDA) for a land sale or long-term ground lease of appropriate parcels.
