Anyone Actively Developing Land? Let’s Talk Strategy, Zoning, and Entitlements

Columbus, Ohio
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Anyone Actively Developing Land? Let’s Talk Strategy, Zoning, and Entitlements

Robert EllisBusiness Member
Developer · Miami, FL · Member since 2014 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes

Hey BP community,

Curious to connect with others who are actively working on or exploring land development projects—especially those who’ve gone through the entitlement process, rezoning, or leveraged incentives like LIHTC, TIF, or new zoning overlays.

I’m currently working on a large-scale mixed-use project that includes affordable housing, senior housing, retail, and commercial components. We’re in the early stages of rezoning agricultural land into a mixed-use district and building strong relationships with local municipalities.

A few questions for the group:

  • How are you approaching feasibility studies before you tie up land?

  • What’s been your experience navigating the entitlement process or working with planning commissions?

  • Have you used any creative structures like ground leases, public-private partnerships, or SPVs to reduce upfront capital risk?

  • For those who’ve done horizontal development, how are you managing infrastructure costs and timelines?

Also curious how others are balancing community engagement with maximizing density and ROI.

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  • Jamie Hora
    Developer · San Antonio · Member since 2016 · 157 posts · 85 votes
    1y

    I'm usually working on a couple due-diligence reports at a time for a commercial developer client of mine.  I'm the one doing the feasibility studies on the site while they are negotiating with the land seller and are in an option period.  I'm licensed in Texas, Ohio, Arizona and Arkansas.  

    - In a standard feasibility I'll get all the standard pieces of data like zoning, platting, utilities, permitting timelines, etc.  But the value is really determining the "bomb" on a site, for what will be either a timeline killer or a money pit for the developer. I'm licensed in Texas, Ohio, Arizona and Arkansas. The process is the same everywhere, just a bit different in acquiring the data. 

    - Most planning commissions have been great. The majority I work with are in smaller Cities. The large metros areas that I've worked in like San Antonio, Fort Worth, its difficult getting answers from the decision makers.  Most of my rezoning to "commercial" have gone smoothly.  We had difficulty in a residential rezoning where the residents voiced a strong opposition, and that changed our intensity, but still moved forward with the project.  The project changed from a 3-story MF to a SF-6 (6 lots per acre). 

    - For sites that require improvements beyond the developers preliminary plan, I will roughly quantify what is needed, based on results from a feasibility study.  They will get approximate bids to understand if the project can take on the additional cost but still meet their returns.


    As the civil engineer, the feasibility aspect of the projects is actually a part I really enjoy. 

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  • Juan Cristales
    Investor · Willis, TX · Member since 2014 · 245 posts · 124 votes
    1y

    I've always found that City Engineers know more about what going on as a whole than planning commissions and even entire departments inside the local jurisdiction. They're alway busy of course but meeting with them for a focused, rapid fire shot of ideas has worked for me. I've learned so much about the "future plans" for the local areas and adjacent areas, MAJOR infrastructure concerns that sometimes the public isn't even aware of. Good topic! I'd love to learn more about it. 

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