All Forum Posts by: Kristi Kandel

 @Michael K Gallagher Agreed! I grew up in Fredericktown and half of my team still lives in the Columbus area. It's been so great diving into the various community initiatives, agencies, alliances, etc. and understanding how they are working together to collaborate and help provide solutions to our challenges. 

 Hey Eliyahou, I done smaller projects in the NE. It's all the same process and steps to define the development process and steps in each market. Did you have a specific question? 

 @Ben Patel you'll have the best luck talking to regional lenders/banks in your market since they have more flexibility than the national banks and know your market. Here's a resource for vetting lenders: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WavkX3gNG8T0pQuUr2EYJYH2...

 @Aaron Friberg While their pricing is very fair for that scope you can actually do the AHJ research yourself. You can't draft the site plan and see exactly what could fit but you can at least verify the zoning for density and uses and make sure that the overall plan is feasible. 

Just call the planning dept (granted City of SD is not so user-friendly) or look online first. 

I've been a developer the past 17 years with a majority of that work being in CA. I'm happy to jump on a call to discuss if you'd like too. 

Here's a link to examples zoning codes and what they mean to give you an idea of what you're looking for in their code. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gDqtsWHaEbOZ-ZVnzc-0... 

 @Christopher Duron Keep me posted! A ton of my development work is in CA and 100% you can negotiated down the purchase price based on your findings. I've done it hundreds of times. It's all in how you outline the hurdles to the owner, have a couple prices on costs (that way you're no longer talking subjectively), and make it clear that ANY buyer will have to do this as well while treating the owner with respect and building a relationship. 

 @Christie Gahan hahah yeah if you're not in development things can seem very grey and unclear and seem like the AHJ is trying to screw you. 

I'd say start with talking to the engineering department to see what the process would be for your parcel map? or is it a lot split. 

The process they require will then outline what else gets triggered from that process. That's typically when you need to have very pointed conversations with Planning & Engineering to really dial in the full ask and scope of the project and work with them to minimize the deal killing and costly requirements.  

Discretionary does give both sides room to negotiate within certain parameters that fall within the AHJ's ordinance and master plan. Typically any changes to the land itself will trigger certain improvements like curbs, gutters, sidewalks, possibly streetlights. In some cases I've had to widen roads or build turn lanes. 

Shoot me a DM if you want to talk further. 

 Ask your local jurisdiction for the code requirements. I just built a pool in FL and there are requirements around alarms, door & fence hardware heights, fences (heights and post widths), etc. 

From a liability standpoint make sure your insurance is for a rental and that you have umbrella coverage for liability. 

Additional steps for protection you can take are: 

• 1. require disclaimer for the pool use - it is your obligation to oversee + ID
• 2. pool signs for depth
• 3. paint depth on decking + more signs than you think are necessary 
• 4. signs on fence & on the listings for no diving + no life guard  on duty
• 5. signs that the pool throw ring is NOT a toy 

Basically anticipate the worst and it will mitigate a lot (not all) of the crazy things people could do. 

 Always think about the challenges the next developer will face. 

1. fault line reduces the buildable area of the lot = reduce property value

2. talk to a structural engineer & contractor about the added design and costs associated with both the fault line and the retaining wall. 

3. if the steep grade is too steep then you might need to pile drive a wall vs grading and building a retaining wall which adds a lot of cost. 

Think of the property value from the perspective of relatively flat land without atypical construction costs. Clean soils, no grade challenges, no power lines or utilities running through the property, no street improvements (curbs, gutters, sidewalks, new lanes, streetlights),etc. ANYTHING on a prospective property that has any of those items then reduces the property value. Sometimes it's 1 for 1 and sometimes it's a percentage of the cost if the market / land is super desirable. 

If the purchase price is reduced for the atypical development conditions and the deal pencils then it's a project that you or anyone else could move forward developing. 

 If you need to complete entitlements that are discretionary it gives the AHJ the ability to impose conditions on the project. If the project is permitted by right they can only enforce the code during plan check. 

Likely if you're doing a lot split / parcel map that's going to trigger planning reviews and likely open the door to the additional requirements. EVERYTHING is negotiable and you should always push back on conditions that kill the deal, are an overreach, etc. However, you don't want to push back individually. You'd want to make sure you complete the AHJ due diligence and have a local civil engineer experienced in that jurisdiction familiar with the types of conditions your project would trigger based on the AHJ. 

Completing due diligence is the best way to have the AHJ show their hand/cards, which then allows you to formulate a plan that minimizes the AHJ requirements & processes to potentially avoid costly conditions. 

 Agreed on the details the others shared. Be careful what you ask for when it comes to national Tenants. I've developed for CVS, Chase Bank, Grocery Chains, Family Dollar, etc. at scale in California. While it's great it's also not great depending on your strategy. I like the idea of getting creative with the space and finding creative tenants in the shopping centers we are looking to revitalize. 

To find a local broker you can use the forms in this drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13Z0B7mV--YRtVN3TJhez...