Sell, Keep & Hold or Develop ??

[Julie Nealey]

I own raw land in a prime location just north of Seattle in a very good location. Its mixed use, 50/50 +1 split. I have owned the property for 4years and pre-covid actually obtained all entitlements to build an owner occupied development.  I even started to clear and grade the site, and then Covid hit. Coming out of covid the cost to build over doubled and I could not have my clients absorb that, so I decided to go a different route. Had the wetlands redetermined and went from a 100' buffer to a 50' buffer. HUGE!!! I could then max out the site and had a new site plan drawn up and pre-app approved for multifamily/commercial. 

I am not a developer. I have learned A LOT going through the permitting process the first time around, but for the new site plan, its a bit too big for me to tackle. My questions are:

Sell ? In this market will we not get our asking price as developers are in a "wait and see" pattern?

Keep it undeveloped and hold it for a while as the value will only increase, as it is in a prime location with incredible traffic counts and frontage on a major state route.

Bring in an experienced developer and develop it? If so, what are typical splits for deals like this? 

Thank you in advance?

[Sherief Elbassuoni]

@Julie Nealey, partnering with an experienced investor is the way to go. The market started to soften, so it may not be a good idea to tackle a project that big if this is your first one!