2.83 acres rezoning off US1 in Florida

[Elaine Kelley]

I have a family member that is trying to sell their house quickly for whatever they can get. I want to help get them the most out of their property. It is 2.83 acres by US1 off of a main road. There is a house on the property, but is pretty run down and would cost a lot to renovate. I was thinking they could rezone the house to commercial or multi-family. There is a large apartment complex next door that has shown interest in the past. And the property would be great for commercial business to build on. How can I find out the process and cost of rezoning? And is there someone that can evaluate the property's price if it was zoned differently? I want to verify it would be profitable before we look into doing it. Thank you in advance for your advice.

[Joel Owens]

Step 1: See if it is in just county limits or the land is within the city limits.

Step 2: Check on what the current and future land use map shows with the county or city. These maps are generally what is the zoning today and what the government body wants to see in the future. Future land use maps tend to go out up to 20 or 25 years at a time and can be periodically updated. There should be various color codes for different types of zoning or possibly a number system for residential, industrial, retail, multifamily, etc. I have found zoning codes at least where I live in GA are almost 100% different by county and city. They all like to do their own thing.

Step 3: A void analysis helps determine the highest and best use of the land. You then need to look at current land use map zoning and then future to see what is there. If you want to sell for commercial purposes and future map shows residential a variance will be very hard to get approved. Governments want to control growth and what mix is in what area. There is often the zoning itself that needs to be changed and also site plan approval.

The multifamily project close by might have already performed due diligence in the area and have the reports they need to make a decision. Other buyers you should be looking at a long contract maybe 6 months to 1 year before purchase. The buyer will want to know they can get zoning approved and the site plans for their intended use before owning the land. If you want them to buy and close before entitlements then their is more risk to the end user owner or the developer and they will pay very little for the property. This way if their plans do not work out they can resale they property for cheap and get out versus sitting on holding cost for the land for many years sinking non-productive capital into a project.

The house is not a benefit. It is an additional tear down cost to get the land grade ready. If the house is really old and has asbestos and other things then it generally costs more to remove as you have to take additional measures when tearing down.

Grade costs and topograhy is another issue. If you have relatively flat land and great visibility with sight lines from the road grading as an example could be 100k an acre. If you have poor sight lines and dirt has to be leveled and brought in along with a retaining wall then cost per acre could be 300k to 400k an acre or more. There are a ton of variables to developing a property.

You need to check if buyers will purchase the land un-entitled or will only buy with zoning in place. The local zoning attorney who you see on a lot of cases online for the government website or in the newspaper generally knows the odds of success and how the local body sees things. You want to present your rezoning case in the best light. Very hard to un-ring that bell and start over.