Need Amendment to previous developers covenants and restrictions

[Ryan McLeaird]

Has anyone had any experience working with small neighborhood associations to get covenants and restrictions amended?

We have a piece of land in a great location of San Antonio under contract to purchase, it's approx. 1.5 acres.  It has never been developed due to no infrastructure (sewer and a street need to be put in) but home values have increased significantly in the area and the project would now be viable even with this massive cost. 

Our title co. found a set of restrictions and covenants put in place in 2011 when an old developer owned the property.  The parties on the documents are the declarant (developer) and a tiny neighborhood association that appears to be just one guy.  His name is all over it saying nothing can change without his approval.  

The biggest kicker is that it says the lots have to be double the size of what we expected, cutting our total number of buildable units in half and thus making the expense far outweigh the benefit.  

We've called the guy multiple times and he's only answered once, with a gruff and whatever attitude toward the whole thing.  We went by his house just a block from this land and tried to have a talk with him but he just wanted us to leave a bunch of paperwork with him and he'd get to it "in a few weeks".  

Any ideas on how to motivate someone in this scenario that has no real motive or interest in helping us?  

The prior developers should never have agreed to these restrictions when they rezoned from MF-33 to residential zoning as the numbers simply do not pan out.  That much is obvious because they never built and eventually they were foreclosed on and had a huge lien on the property from the old engineer they worked with. 

I've consulted with a few attorneys and there really is nothing we can do outside of working with this individual.  

[Joel Owens]

The guy holding the deed restrictions might care less about money. I would not just offer him money that might insult him like he can be bought.

Developers like to come in and throw money around and it can piss people off. I have seen it where huge developers come in an area and think everything should happen when they want. The smarter larger developers tend to partner with local developers who are respected in the community and have personal connections to the county/cities. The tend to know (how to do business) on a local level and get things approved and moved along.

If the guy holding the cards doesn't want density he probably could care less about your personal situation or wanting the numbers to work etc. He might want it to remain raw land that never gets touched.

Probably back in the day the defunct developer penciled in cheaper labor and construction costs to try and make lower density work and even back then found out it wasn't feasible.

Probably the cheapest thing you might could do is offer to take the guy to dinner on you and see where he is coming from, show empathy, and see if there is a WIN-WIN in there somewhere.

If not sometimes the juice isn't worth the squeeze at all ever or just ( that particular moment in time ).

You do not want to obligate yourself to thin deals. You want risk LOW and UPSIDE high. I listen to the knowledge of developers that own millions of sq ft of space and hear their words of wisdom gained over decades of time.

You have given this guy nothing of value to feel obligated to try and help you out. If you do not feel like meeting in person because of Covid maybe ask him for his favorite food place and send him a gift card as a nice gesture. Money alone doesn't have as much impact standing by itself unless someone worships money which actually not many people do. They love what money (can do for them) and not the money itself. So giving a gift card or otherwise finding out the interest of the person you are trying to interact with shows you took personal time to understand them and make a high energy effort to connect.

That favorite restaurant could have been where they had a first date, learned they were having a child, kids graduation from high school, whatever. It's a memory from life which can be much more powerful than money alone for personal connection.

When I assembled land for a commercial developer I had to get into the mind of the property owner and build rapport on a deep level and learn their story and their life. Sometimes it took 6 months or more to reach agreement on a contract and a price. In this instance it's the person not owning but the association and the person over it that has the real control to decide.

No legal advice given.