Land development strategy

[John Wooten]

Hello All!

I was looking to gather some advice pertaining to a property I acquired via an inheritance two years ago. Taking a look at the public records/survey info for the property I realize that its actually on 2 lots. I initially just wanted to rent the property out and go find a duplex but I really now want to explore my options for demo and new construction development. I'm really unsure about a few steps since I'm really a newbie some of my questions are pretty much Level A. any help would be much appreciated I'm really in a research fact finding stage and don't know where my focus should be 1st. 

1) Does the property being on 2 lots mean I can do new construction of a new home without much "red tape" I take it this requires permits and has to be approved??

2) What city entity determines if I can build maybe duplexes or quads on the 2 lots. Is their a board that decides this or just zoning laws etc? Who/what professional can evaluate the land and best tell me how to maximize the space, would that be a contractor or developer/ architect?

3) Any off the bat financing issues that I should look out for. I understand I need some liquid and credit to get started. I always wanted to use the asset as leverage but unsure how this weighs in since I want to demo it and build new.

Regards.

[Russ Wallace]

@John Wooten first thing you should do is determine the current zoning district for the parcels. Try searching Mecklenburg County property records or use the Charlotte Geographical Information System (GIS). Once you know the zoning (e.g., R-8 = Residential 8,000 SF lot min), find the "permitted uses table" in the Land/Unified Development Ordinance. It will give you more details about what can be constructed on the site given the current zoning. Next step is find the Future Land Use map. It's commonplace for property currently zoned for a specific use (e.g., residential, office, etc) to be targeted for a different use in the future. Armed with these two important pieces of information, you can contact the Charlotte Planning Dept to ask any other questions that come to mind. But do some homework first; they'll appreciate you having put forth the effort. And it will be good training; you may want to investigate developing/redeveloping other property in the future. Or, you may decide to pursue land development full-time. I have.