New Construction Development - Build for Sale or Rent?

[Joel Erb]

I live in Petersburg, Virginia and recently purchased two sides of a City block (roughly 5 acres) to develop (currently open land). It’s located 1/2 a mile from downtown and already has active renovations taking place to early 19th century homes.

My initial plan was to build 6 units on one side that are roughly 1,400sqft and then 8-10 on the other in form of a “pocket community” - single story small homes.

Given the market, I’m debating whether building homes for sale is a solid idea vs. building for rent (even completely reimagining what would go on those lots) or a combination of rentals vs. homes for sale.

Any thoughts on how best to proceed?