Successfully Rezoned from SFH to Duplex for Build to Rent (BTR)

[Derek Caffe]

Earlier this month I was able to successfully rezone a property I own from single family to duplex, which will be new construction. This is the first permitted new construction duplex in my city in decades (40 - 50 years). And I was able to do this on my own, spending only $480 on the renderings (included below), not including the application fee which was an additional $360 or survey which I had done about 2.5 years ago for $625.

I had several people tell me that I'll need to hire an architect or zoning attorney to get this through. However, while they had more experience with rezoning across the Atlanta metro, no one had more experience than me in my particular municipality. I had been a part of all future land use documents since 2017, resident since 2015, and sat in on countless rezoning hearings over the years. I intimately know our elected officials and they know me.

Point being, for small developers/ investors like myself who don't have lots of discretionary funds to spend to have experts help you out (for something so unsure as a rezoning), sweat equity is always an option. This is an example of the benefits going a mile deep in one area (your farm) rather than a mile wide. I'm currently preparing to demo the existing home on the lot which I purchased back in 2020. After I'm to the dried in stage I'll begin working on the subdivision and rezoning of the lot next door (I own one side of a block in our suburban ATL downtown). I'm shooting for a BTR 6 unit apartment building similar to the ones I've seen in Portland, Oregon.

I expect the build to run between $250 - $300K, and appraise at approximately $450K - $500K+. I'm expecting a monthly mortgage payment of approximately $2,600 and gross rents at $4,500 - $5,500 per month. I originally paid $25K for the land in 2020. Wish me luck!

[Derek Caffe]

Quote from @Qua Brown:

Hello I saw your post about the rezoning . I am in the same boat. I have some land over on Camp Creek that I need rezone in order to build Tiny Homes. I do not know where to start to do the application for South Fulton. I was quoted 11k to write the proposal for them etc… but I don’t have the extra cash to do. Any advice you can give ?

First, I would ask do you have the zoning code for the municipality you're looking to rezone a property in, have you read it, and do you understand it? Along with that, you'll need any future land use documents for the municipality, it may be called a Comprehensive Plan or something similar here in Georgia. And you'll need to know are there any other additional planning documents governing your property.

For example, in my case there was the recent 2022 Comprehensive Plan governing the entire city, and also a 2021 LCI study which governed the downtown where the property was located. So there were two documents governing future development in the city that applied to my property. I was a private stakeholder on both documents so much of the language contained in the documents I had contributed to. You'll need to know if your property is in an area planned for growth, and what type of growth they're expecting, and if your rezoning is in line with that growth. 

Once you have a good understanding of the city's growth objectives via government documents, you'll need to understand the players. This includes the zoning / economic development dept., city council, and local neighbors. You'll want to meet with the zoning/ economic development dept. first and present your idea to them to get their feedback. If you've read the future land use documents you should be able to tell them how your vision aligns with theirs to gain support. The better you understand the documents, the better you should be able to articulate how your actions help them achieve their mission.

With the city council you need to understand the individual members. Who's pro-growth? who's anti-growth? What's their objectives/ motivators on council? What do they do for a living? Are you explaining why your rezoning should go through to a nurse or a real estate developer? Remember, all council members usually have varied backgrounds and you don't want to explain the rezoning to a nurse the same way you'd explain it to a real estate developer. Do you have an influential champion on council you can approach to sell your vision to other members? Who do you know who knows the council members and can curry favor for you and your project? All these questions and more need to be strategized and answered. 

With local neighbors their support or opposition (typically opposition) can be the difference between your rezoning passing or being denied. Do you live in the neighborhood you'll be developing in? While not mandatory, it absolutely helps, as it did in my case. Do you have goodwill in the community that be used to build rezoning support? Can you build support among the residents near your rezoning, and get them to show up to voice that support? Or at the least, can you minimize the opposition to your rezoning? All this is a concern in your rezoning.

Then on a technical aspect when completing the rezoning packet, you need to thoroughly fill out the packet. Make sure to clearly explain how your rezoning benefits the city and its goals. This is not about you, it's about how it benefits them. You need to effectively communicate this. That means speaking at the level of your audience, even if your audience is elementary students on one end and college students on the other.

To be honest, it's very time intensive and it's ideal to have the relationships built prior to ever appearing in front of the council. That was the situation with me. Fortunately, I'm a full-time investor/ developer and real estate broker so I had the time to do the research and build the relationships prior to needing them. A good book/ audio book that influenced me in my real estate developing journey was "Peebles Principles" by R. Donahue Peebles. I'd suggest you listen to it.

Lastly, I understand money is low, but I'd be glad to discuss assisting you in your journey or at a minimum doing a preliminary consultation with you to provide some insights on the potential success of your rezoning. Hope this helps.