I'm a licensed contractor based in Morocco with over 20 years of experience in construction and real estate development.

But I think you may be asking, should you do the rezoning, or leave it to the ultimate developer. 

This benefits you now and in the future.Key is to develop a checklist and keep adding to it.  

If you're sticking to all-cash, passive investments, you’re right that flippers and small developers often look for cash investors to fund deals without traditional financing.

Increase supply (or at least encourage development), and the prices will eventually come down (as we've seen in other large cities like Austin where the demand boom was followed by a supply boom - and now both sale prices and rents have gone down). 

In a previous life, I developed midstream energy assets. 

My suggestion would be to look at turn-key rental property options in a developing area with low entry costs.

My wife became a realtor in March & I recently jumped on as the business development manager of a long-term property management company.

But keep on thinking and evaluating, as there are niches out there where someone can develop a profitable business over time.Good luck  

You need to develop yourself before you can help others develop into what they want to become.