Advice on possible raw land refinance to make improvements

[Trevor S Foster]

Hey guys,

I have a few questions on refinancing raw land, hopefully, someone can lend a little advice on whats been running through my mind.

We have a 7-acre parcel of raw land in Prince Georges County, Maryland. Inherited through grandparents who have also built a 4 story home + barn on their own parcel near ours, as well as my aunt on hers. There's a mix of new & old homes throughout the entire area & new development going on also. We got an appraisal done in Feb of this year,  we know the as-is value without any improvements done. 

- Since we own the land outright is possible refinancing to make those improvements to increase the value & make it more attractive to a developer?

- PG County has recently changed/improved the zoning laws. With that being said, would making improvements create an opportunity for rezoning? (Current Zoning: "OS" Open Space 5) . 

- Would there be a specific type of Lender I would need to go to that specializes in this area of loans? (Hard Money is definitely not an option)

- Besides removing the trees what other improvements can we make to increase value, change zoning to subdivide the parcel into lots?

The Appraisal has some info I thought would help with this post.

Electric: Pepco

Water: Private Well

Sanitary Sewer: Private Septic 

Drainage: Appears to be Adequate

Uses Allowed Under Current Zoning: According to the county this site is large enough to support a 1 single family home

I appreciate any responses that anyone may give.