Developing land for townhomes

[Sara Als.]

Hi everyone, we are analyzing the development and townhome construction on a 2 acres piece of land in the greater Atlanta area. Utilities are available in the road in front of land. 

Questions I have (and I am in the process of consulting a couple of engineering and development companies):

- What is the average cost to develop a land for townhomes? This land is zoned for 8 THs per acre so estimate to have no more than 12-16 units.

- will we have to subdivide the land during development? What are the estimated costs in Atlanta for that? 

- Where can I get references for good small developers in the area?

Thanks once advance!

Sara

[Azeez K.]

Hi @Sara Als.

I am currently building 5 townhomes on Memorial Drive so my response below is based on my experience. Hopefully, it provides you the guidance you are looking for:

1.  The average cost to develop is between $110-$120/sqft. My current average is about $110/sqft

2.  You don't need to subdivide the land during development. You can phase out development. I paid close to 60K-70K for architecture drawings, civil, mechanical, permit, surveys etc. 

3. Last question - I interviewed several developers some seemed promising but ended being fraudsters, slackers, non responsive etc. so decided to get all sub-contractors and finish the job. 

Overall I have a lot of lessons learned and would be hard to share on the post. Feel free to PM me and you are most welcome to check out my project and share notes. Getting the development cost close to $85-$95 is going to be challenging in this market. You will quickly find there is shortage of trade and this has driven the prices up.  I have included some pictures of my project.