Pavement / Ground Coverage for empty lot turning into side yard

[Igor Messano]

Hi everyone,

I have recently received encouraging news after almost a 2 year process of trying to buy an empty lot held by the city. The lot is between two of my SFH properties which are fully rented. This lot is where a property used to be as these were all attached row homes so needless to say it is not that big. Maybe 550 sqft.

Currently this lot if not worth building on but the area is promising. Does anyone have any ideas for a cheap, potentially DIY solution for a ground cover or pavement? The idea is to split the lot front and back so each property can use it as a side yard (one of the units could have access through the rear of their property). Currently it is overgrown with weeds so I will need to clean that up. But I need to one, prevent the weeds from growing back, and two, figure out a low cost low maintenance option to cover the dirt ground so it can be a nice enough outdoor area.

This is for a C property for reference but the area is quickly changing and and the tenant base tends to be 25-35 year old's.