Richmond is a nice place. It's nice to see you going after something you're passionate about. Working with another developer would be a good way to start as you will be able to learn a lot from them. As for money, you can always offer some sweat equity instead of money. Two books you can check out are; Land Development and Professional Real Estate Development. It would be good to get to know your local county clerk, city clerk, or planning/zoning office. Each city is different, and development goes beyond just real estate.
Depending on your concept you'd then be looking for a site, do your research on market trends, economic conditions, site opportunities, site constraints, regulatory factors, off-site conditions, etc.
You also have to know how much Richmond will allow to be built. For example, there for a while Lexington was limiting how much could be built as new construction. I would be talking to other developers, real estate agents, banks, investors, your local city government, and county clerk's office at the least.
After you build these places, you plan on keeping them or selling them? Or build them and sell it to other investors? Or stay partly invested sell the other part, and build others?
