Meanwhile, in the 4 years in limbo massive redevelopment was occurring in the area, and we were offered an amount equal to our investment plus a reasonable profit by a developer.   

Quote from @Galant Ant: Permit delays in NY can derail timelines and budgets for developers and flippers.

Obviously the course designers have huge success in RE, but I am more interested in the course they developed and what I should expect to get out of it. 

It depends on the market, but more densely populated areas like New York City will have more sales in a closer radius than a suburban market.Starting with 6 months back and 1 mile out is a good start.

Quote from @Galant Ant: Permit delays in NY can derail timelines and budgets for developers and flippers.

Land  Development and vertical construction are hands down the toughest loans to get..

In my experience strictly med buildings are generally developed in the same way as part of a campus or off the path a bit from the main retail corridor, so it really is only suited for that use. 

In a small town, like the one featured, you don't have a growing population, so where is new demand coming from?  

They want to share our names and numbers with these developers.

The fact that 8 acres were developed and 200 were left as farm is a clue there is some issue.Another first step would be to determine the possible economics of the development.