How To Follow developers movements? Any Idea?

[Mike Nelson]

You guys have all saw it before, a large developer comes into an area, purchased a large piece of land and before you know it, you have a Walmart, Target and a whole new slew of restaurants etc. 

My question is, how do I go about finding out where these new developments are taking place before the general public? 

I've been able to get this info  from the permits office (they have to get permits to build) but I want deeper insight on how to strategically pinpoint that this is taking place.