Hard money to construction loan?

[Naeomi Acevedo-Morales]

There is a property I am very interested in that is on a good sized lot in the downtown historic area in my city. The house that is on the property is uninhabitable and would require 200k plus renovations to get it to where you could start adding finishes. It needs roof, ac, electrical, possibly plumbing, new bathroom, new kitchen, flooring repair, siding and fascia repair, and on top of that there is some fire damage. So basically there is not much value in the house besides the fact that it is historic. The lot can be split and another property can be built that would make the deal worth it for the right price. Is there a way to get a construction loan with the original property still on the land so I can do a new build on part of the property and then slowly rehab the historic property? I was thinking hard money loan and then refinance into a construction loan after splitting the lot. Is this even possible? Thank you in advance for any advice! 

[Jonathan Taylor Smith]

Yes, a hard money / rehab loan could be obtained to purchase the property and rehab the existing house (IF the numbers work for purchase price, rehab budget and ARV). Then you may be able to split the lot and do a construction loan for a new build on that additional lot... IF, IF, IF splitting the lot and building another house would even be allowed in a historical district. And even if so, I'd imagine there would be LOTS of restrictions and red tape as to what you'd be allowed to build and its appearance - No?