SESI Consulting Engineers Marks 50 Years As Early-Stage Feasibility Reshapes Development

As SESI Consulting Engineers (“SESI”) marks its 50th anniversary, the firm is addressing a fundamental shift that is reshaping real estate development across the Northeast: engineering feasibility is increasingly determining whether projects move forward long before design or approvals begin.

Rising construction costs, evolving environmental regulations, infrastructure limitations, and extended municipal review timelines are driving developers to evaluate risk, cost, constructibility, and sustainability at the earliest stages of site selection. As a result, geotechnical, environmental, and civil engineering input is now central to development decision-making, not simply design execution.

“Since its inception 50 years ago, SESI has provided well-reasoned solutions that include lateral thinking across service lines and a zeal for satisfied clients,” said Anthony Castillo, Principal at SESI Consulting Engineers. “As SESI moves into its second fifty years, it remains a firm that listens first, compiles facts, and presents solutions to its clients with the passion of a brand-new company.”

Founded in 1976, SESI has supported development across industrial, multifamily, office, warehouse, and large-scale infrastructure projects throughout New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and surrounding markets. The firm’s work is grounded in an integrated model that brings geotechnical, environmental, and site civil engineering together to evaluate cost, risk, and constructibility in parallel rather than sequentially.

Thomas G. Gallagher, Managing Engineer at The Morris Companies, commented, “SESI’s ability to listen and re-think approaches has yielded practical solutions that allowed stalled projects in both the planning stage and the construction stage to proceed.”

This approach has become increasingly relevant as redevelopment and infill projects face greater regulatory scrutiny and infrastructure constraints. In many cases, utility capacity, stormwater requirements, environmental remediation, and flood-hazard compliance must now be evaluated before zoning approval or financing decisions can proceed.

“The best projects come from working alongside our clients, not simply working for them,” said John Nederfield, Principal at SESI Consulting Engineers. “Listening first, developing thoughtful solutions to complex challenges, and doing what’s right are the values that guide our work. These principles not only lead to successful projects, but they also create lasting partnerships and results that everyone involved can be proud of.”

SESI’s early-stage feasibility approach often includes evaluating multiple foundation systems, ground improvement strategies, and remediation options to determine the most viable path forward for a site. In one example, SESI implemented a ground improvement program using surcharge loading and dynamic compaction for a major industrial redevelopment in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, eliminating the need for deep foundation systems and contributing to significant capital cost savings while improving constructibility.

In Fair Lawn, New Jersey, SESI’s geotechnical, environmental, and site civil teams supported the redevelopment of a former industrial property into a modern warehouse facility, coordinating remediation, permitting, and ground improvement in a constrained redevelopment environment.

The northeastern U.S. is a highly complex geotechnical region, with the New Jersey Meadowlands among the most challenging development zones. Subsurface conditions can include up to approximately 200 feet of compressible marsh deposits, silts, clays, and variable fill materials. SESI has long supported projects requiring specialized ground improvement strategies to address these conditions. These solutions have enabled developers to reduce foundation risks, improve schedule certainty, and advance projects that might otherwise be considered unfeasible.

Clients working with SESI describe a shift in how engineering support is delivered during early-stage project evaluation.

“We needed a consultant that would function more like a business partner,” said Peter Palazzo, President of LRC Construction LLC. “Someone who matched our intensity and could respond with the urgency our business demands. SESI didn’t just deliver one limited service or another. They stayed engaged and adapted as our needs evolved. It felt like a true partnership rather than dealing with an outside consultant.”

As SESI enters its next chapter, the firm expects continued demand for early-stage engineering support in industrial redevelopment, data centers, multifamily housing, and infrastructure-adjacent development, where feasibility constraints increasingly shape investment decisions.

About SESI Consulting Engineers
SESI Consulting Engineers provides value-driven geotechnical, environmental, and site civil engineering services for owners, developers, and the construction industry. Founded in 1976, the firm’s eight Principals provide hands-on leadership, delivering integrated engineering solutions focused on cost, risk, constructibility, and sustainability to support development feasibility and project delivery across the Northeast and beyond. Learn more at sesi.org.

SESI Consulting Engineers