All Forum Posts by: Jamie Hora

One consideration to keep in mind is the site topography.  Large falls or grade changes on your site could impose work to either haul in dirt/ haul out dirt in order to level your site.  If you have a survey of the site, a general contractor or civil engineer should be able to provide insight if there is anything preventing you from having a balanced site.  

This is a potential separate cost from just the construction of the physical storage unit, which is why I bring it up. 

I myself am not aware of the ADU requirements myself, but doing a quick google search I see SA has a ADU Committee actually. I would probably just reach out to COSA Development Services Dept. as a starting point in order to get someone you can actually have a conversation with.

Hi Shital.  From my background, as an engineer who works for developers, here are my pieces of input in regards to the physical part of developing. (sorry, not much experience on the investing/financials of the projects). 

- Determining locations of existing utilities and if they are not available to your site, how far to they need to be extended and will you as the developer be fully responsible for cost to extend. 

- Drainage Requirements. Is onsite detention required? This one is most critical, especially on a 2-acre site because it can take a chunk of your land that you are assuming can be built upon. If required, general knowledge of site topography is helpful or if there are regional detention sites available for you. 

- Do you have an architect/site plan already drawn?  Meeting parking requirements is one item to keep in mind on the site plan. Plus location of driveway(s) into the site.  

- Floodplain classification

These are just the quick ones that come to mind and are the big ticket items. Hope that info helps a bit.  I have done projects in DWF metroplex but none exactly that fall under Dallas County jurisdiction.  If you have any further questions I'd be happy to try and assist. 

Hi Steven.  One book I know of for some basics is "How to Build a House" by Larry Haun. It basically describes the format for how Habitat For Humanity builds homes. This is quite literally about actually building the home.  But, this is just one source. I think its a good starting point, but by no means does it capture all aspects of the project, especially relating to financing. I would definitely recommend gathering info from a few different sources are start parsing together the pieces that fit your scenario. 

You could also search the BP Bookstore on the topic to see if any resources are available there.  Good luck!

@Barrett Bridgewater are you referring to a LOMA-F? I've done one of those on a project of mine. Essentially, the FEMA floodmap was outdated, and in reality, the elevation of the building was higher than the floodplain elevation. All it required was a simple 2-page document certified by a surveyor to show that the site was actually above the floodplain elevation,

I dont know where you are located in relation to where you are looking for builders, but if you are nearby, you can always drive around the City and look for home currently being built and stop by to get the company name and possibly a contact that way.

Hi Charity.  I'm a civil engineer and assist developers in evaluating potential pieces of land all the time.  I look at the projects from the feasibility and costs of development, but not necessarily the cost/financials of the home building/commercial building.  I commented on another post recently with a list of things that are critical in checking when doing due-diligence for a site.  These items can mostly all be worked around however can just dramatically affect the cost of the development. 

- FEMA Floodplain Designation of site

- Existing Zoning of land plus zoning requirements (possible rezoning?, lot density, setback requirements, etc).

- City/Jurisdiction Drainage/Stormwater requirements. Is detention required? If yes, this needs to be accounted for in all site plans, even as a placeholder until it is actually engineered. This one can be a big punch to the gut if not understood early on

- If building a subdivision, location of this likely will determine the width of the street that the City will require. (IE., will it be a 50' ROW, or 70' ROW or etc.). Accounting for this directly affects the available space you have for lot depths/widths

- Location of ALL existing utilities. Are existing Water, Wastewater, Storm available for your site to connect to? If not, where is the nearest and who will be responsible for cost of extending these

- Additional utilities like Electric and Gas service availability. (Gas can be more critical if youre planning a commercial site).

- Existing easements within property, especially large easements like Overhead Transmission lines

- General knowledge of topography. Are you on a hill? Do you have 20' fall on a 5' acre site. Can be large costs associated with retaining walls and/or balancing the site during construction.

- General knowledge of soil conditions. This one you wont know for sure until geotech is done. But you should ask around to other developers, or reach out to local engineers. You want to know if the area has a high water table, rock 5' underground, expansive soils, etc.

Hope this helps!

Hi Franky.  I'm a civil engineer and perform due-diligence studies on pieces of land all the time for developers. I dont have a formal checklist or form that I use, but there are quite a few items I check. Some can be done at a later stage than others, but some of my clients prefer all the knowledge right up front, even it takes me an extra week to gather all the data. 

- FEMA Floodplain Designation of site

- Existing Zoning of land plus zoning requirements (possible rezoning?, lot density, setback requirements, etc).

- City/Jurisdiction Drainage/Stormwater requirements. Is detention required? If yes, this needs to be accounted for in all site plans, even as a placeholder until it is actually engineered. This one can be a big punch to the gut if not understood early on

- If building a subdivision, location of this likely will determine the width of the street that the City will require. (IE., will it be a 50' ROW, or 70' ROW or etc.). Accounting for this directly affects the available space you have for lot depths/widths

- Location of ALL existing utilities.  Are existing Water, Wastewater, Storm available for your site to connect to?  If not, where is the nearest and who will be responsible for cost of extending these

-  Additional utilities like Electric and Gas service availability. (Gas can be more critical if youre planning a commercial site).

- General knowledge of topography.  Are you on a hill? Do you have 20' fall on a 5' acre site. Can be large costs associated with retaining walls and/or balancing the site during construction. 

- General knowledge of soil conditions. This one you wont know for sure until geotech is done. But you should ask around to other developers, or reach out to local engineers. You want to know if the area has a high water table, rock 5' underground, expansive soils, etc.  

Hope this helps!

I would say in general there are 3 main aspects for new development, each with lots of detail. You have the land acquisition/entitlements, project financing, and the physical development part. 

For the actual developing aspect, I second what @Jay Hinrichs said, where you should begin with a planner and civil engineer.  When evaluating a piece of land, you should always begin by researching planning codes of the jurisdiction to see the size/magnitude of what you can build and if the land fits your goals.  I would also recommend having then a civil engineer further evaluate the site for water, wastewater, roads (if needed), drainage requirements, geotechnical conditions, etc. This stage will help estimate the development costs and let you know if the project has viability for you to pursue further.  

My advice is to make sure you are doing your research when looking at potential lots before purchasing.  Things that need to be checked are zoning, and the applicable zoning codes. The land may need to get rezoned, which can be difficult depending on zoning of the surrounding lots.  Then, within the zoning, make sure you are understanding what you can build based on lot setback requirements, max building height, max SF on lot, etc, since this directly relates to your building cost and also your projected income.