Agricultural land to multi family

[Derek Bell]

Hello BP. 

I am not new to RE development, but most of my concentration through the years has been in commercial flex warehousing and industrial development. I am the developer and the builder for all my projects and usually just do a few projects at a time. Most of all my forum activity has been in the commercial section of BP. 

I recently came across an 8 acre property. It is currently zoned agricultural and the property would be great for multi zoning. The seller has agreed to put the sell of the property contingent on rezoning. So, I dont have a ton to lose other than my civil costs, application to the city, lawyer, etc. That can be costly, but I’m ok with taking the risk. 

I dont plan on building anything on the property, if and when, it gets rezoned. I will just market the property under the new zoning. The market has lessened a little on the multi in my area, but I think there is a ton of potential in this property. 

I know I will have to go three or so stories high, but how do you decide on the what density to propose to the city? And then how do you value the property based on the density etc? 

I know my architect and civil eng will help on those deciding factors, but just wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts. I’m sure this has been discussed a million times in this forum. 

Thx in advance.