Benjamin A. Bartel joins NPC to establish a Chicago, Illinois, branch office. Mr. Bartel has over six years of experience providing engineering and environmental consulting services throughout the United States. Mr. Bartel has considerable experience with Property Condition Assessments, Phase I Environmental Site Assessments, specialty mechanical/electrical/plumbing assessments, construction loan monitoring/draw reviews, and accessibility compliance assessments (ADA). Most recently, Mr. Bartel worked as an Engineering Associate for a local Chicago Engineering Consulting Firm, where he spent over two years performing property condition assessments, Phase I environmental site assessments, accessibility compliance assessments, and monitoring new construction projects. Mr. Bartel will be an integral part of the continued growth and success of NPC. Feel free to contact Ben directly at (847) 421-6120 or via e-mail at bbartel@npcg.net.

NPC was hired to complete 56 Limited Property Condition Assessments (PCA) of branch bank facilities located in northern Ohio and southern Michigan. With a combination of seasoned professionals and the latest technology, NPC was able to complete all site visits, cost tables, and reports within two weeks! For more information about NPC’s PCA services, please contact Rick Riess (pmadson@npcg.net) at 513-353-5900.

When you're purchasing a large commercial building, it would be wise to carefully pick your Property Condition Assessment (PCA) Consultant. NPC recently completed a PCA of a large, 40-year old building for a client considering its purchase. Our client provided us with a previous PCA report completed by another consultant for the current owner. The other consultant's report projected only $400,000 of capital expenditures over the next seven years. NPC easily found over $3 MILLION worth of needed repairs over the same seven-year period. If you were buying this building, wouldn't you want to know that you really need to reserve $3 million for repairs instead of only $400,000? For more information about NPC's PCA services, please contact Pete Madson (pmadson@npcg.net) at 513-353-5900.

Our client was considering the purchase of 21 office buildings and needed a consultant to review the exterior wall systems of each building and provide reports and repair costs estimates for each. The challenge was in the timing – our client was up against an extremely tight deadline to go hard on the deal and required all of the site visits to be completed in one week, and all of the reports delivered to them the following week. Understanding that timing is everything in the due diligence business, NPC fielded a team to review each building and deliver the reports within the extremely short deadline. For more information about NPC’s PCA or Exterior Wall Assessment services, please contact Pete Madson (pmadson@npcg.net) at 513-353-5900.

NPC was awarded the challenging task of completing Property Condition Assessments (PCA) of 21 office/warehouse buildings within three weeks. Never shying away from a challenge, NPC's engineers hit the ground running and completed all site visits, cost tables, and reports within the three week time frame. For more information about NPC's PCA services, please contact Pete Madson (pmadson@npcg.net) at 513-353-5900.

When our client decided they may want to buy out their partner at 7 full-service hotels throughout the country, they turned to NPC to perform specialty property condition assessments. Our client needed information before the properties went on the market in order to make an informed decision on purchasing the hotels out-right. The hotels are full service hotels spread out from the east coast, southern United States, Midwest, and California. NPC was tasked with not only performing Property Condition Assessments of each property, but coordinating a team of 5 different specialty consultants to review the various building systems at each property and incorporating each consultant's findings into a single report for each hotel. To add to the challenge, the client required 10-year cost tables within 2-1/2 weeks of authorization. NPC met the challenge and delivered. For more information about NPC's Specialty PCA services, please contact Pete Madson (pmadson@npcg.net) at 513-353-5900.

NPC's Rick Riess was retained as an Expert Witness by Bowman and Brooke, a law firm specializing in defending and trying product liability cases. The case was in South Carolina and involved exterior insulation and finish system (EIFS) and mold. Rick assisted the attorney who was defending the EIFS manufacturer. The attorney told Rick that with his assistance, she was able to 'kick the plaintiff's expert's butt' during the deposition. The case ultimately settled favorably for the defendant. To learn more about NPC's mold or forensic engineering services, please contact Rick Riess (pmadson@npcg.net) at 513-353-5900.

One of NPC's clients was considering purchasing a strip shopping center and hired NPC to perform a routine Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA). NPC identified potential environmental problems associated with onsite dry cleaning operations and recommended a Phase II ESA to determine if contamination has occurred. Nearing the end of their due-diligence period, the Client needed answers fast and asked NPC to move quickly on the Phase II. In order to accommodate the Client's needs, NPC completed the Phase II over the Thanksgiving Holidays, giving the Client the information they needed to move forward with their deal. As always, NPC prides itself on responding to the needs of its Clients regardless of the scheduling or technical challenges presented. Fore more information about NPC's environmental services, please contact Tim Meisel (pmadson@npcg.net) at 513-353-5900.

Chico's is an exclusively designed, private-label women's clothing and accessory retailer and operates 757 women's specialty stores, including Chico's, White House|Black Market, and soma stores. Several of Chico's stores in the New Orleans area were damaged as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita which hit the area on August 29, 2005 and September 24, 2005, respectively. Two stores in Metairie, Louisiana were located in a shopping mall impacted by the hurricanes. Resources have been limited in the area causing delays for damaged facilities to be repaired and re-open. Repairs and clean-up activities were completed at the two Metairie stores on November 21, 2005. Chico’s requested that NPC verify that mall repairs and store clean-ups were properly completed so that the stores could be safely re-opened by the day after Thanksgiving - Black Friday. NPC quickly responded, conducted field activities and issued a report documenting our findings by November 23, 2005 and Chico's was able to get the store re-stocked and open by Black Friday. For more information about NPC's building condition assessment, water intrusion/mold or IAQ services, please contact Rick Riess (pmadson@npcg.net) at 513-353-5900.

Because of Express Property Assessments, LLC growth, rising national presence and expansion of our core services lines, we are changing our company name. As of October 10, 2005, we will officially become National Property Consulting Group, LLC (NPC). You can expect the same service and dedication to quality that we provided in the past. Of course, now you also can expect terrific new additions to our services line. Please page through our web-site to see the new look and services of NPC. For more information about NPC, please contact Tim Meisel (tmeisel@npcg.net) at 513-353-5900.

The Algonquin Hotel is a landmark property located in Midtown Manhattan. Constructed in 1902, the Algonquin is the oldest operating hotel in New York City. The hotel has a rich history having hosted many famous authors and actors throughout the years. HEI Hospitality, LLC decided to make an offer to purchase the property and required immediate assistance to understand the condition and potential environmental liabilities associated with the property so that they could make an informed offer. Knowing that NPC has a history of responding quickly and providing quality services, HEI called NPC on a Tuesday afternoon. HEI needed someone onsite on Wednesday, so they could make an offer by Friday. NPC's engineer flew to New York, was onsite Wednesday, provided verbal summaries Thursday, and cost tables by Friday. HEI was able to make their offer and subsequently purchased the hotel. For more information about NPC's PCA and Phase I services, please contact Pete Madson (pmadson@npcg.net) or Rick Riess (pmadson@npcg.net) at 513-353-5900.

The Pyramids are considered landmark office buildings in a northwest suburb of Indianapolis, consisting of three identical 11-story buildings. The buildings are unique in that they have sloped glass curtainwall systems at two elevations giving the buildings the appearance of pyramids. The buildings were constructed in 1976 and the curtainwall systems were showing their age, needing all new sealants and coatings. When the new Owners took over, part of their capital plan was to restore the curtainwall systems and they needed a consultant with the right experience for this high-profile project. Because of the many years of experience brought to the table by the Principals of NPC, NPC was the obvious choice and was awarded the contract for the design. NPC's contract includes design, solicitation and evaluation of bids, administration of the contract, and monitoring the work. For more information about NPC's Building Consulting Services, please contact Pete Madson (pmadson@npcg.net) at 513-353-5900.

Cabot Properties was considering purchasing eight office/warehouse buildings in the Chicago area and required a firm who could provide quality Property Condition and Phase I Environmental Site Assessments on a very short time-frame. NPC was the obvious choice for this assignment and mobilized their team immediately upon authorization in order to review the properties and meet Cabot's deadline. NPC completed the work and submitted all 16 draft reports to Cabot within two weeks of authorization, allowing Cabot to meet their due-diligence deadline. For more information about NPC's PCA and Phase I services, please contract Rick Riess (pmadson@npcg.net) at 513-353-5900.

Peter Madson joins NPC a Principal/Owner. Mr. Madson formerly worked for MACTEC Engineering and Consulting as a Senior Engineer and Facilities Group Leader for approximately 10 years. Mr. Madson is a structural engineer with expertise in the evaluation and repair of building systems. Mr. Madson specializes in solving problems with facades/curtain walls (building envelope), roofing, water intrusion/mold, structural and foundation systems, floor slabs, and pavements. Additionally, Mr. Madson has performed hundreds of Property Condition Assessments of all types of buildings throughout the United States. Mr. Madson will be an integral part of building the Building Consulting Group and we look forward to his success. Pete can be reached at 513-353-5900 or pmadson@npcg.net.