Some folks choose to do this locally but in my case I have time / travel constraints that have pushed me to develop a virtual group, council if you will.

She's been trained on fair housing stuff specific to your state (and has continuing education requirements), has a broker she can go to if she needs help, and probably corporate council as well if the other aforementioned resources don't cut it. 

He compiled all the data and presented it to the city council and no one wanted to hear it or do anything about it.

Pull the Development Agreement or the City Council hearing from the City website and start taking notes on specific conditions of approvals.

I also look at the path of progress, and will risk what were the yellow and orange areas if I see all sorts of rehabs and development and I know the City Council plan for the area.In my market we have rehabs and knock-down / new-build of homes ranging from $300K to $600K in areas that were previously solid red five years back - and are quickly becoming the place you want to be.

@Garrett F Anderson I’m not a lawyer and whoever is in the predicament should consult proper legal council.

Watch a video about the Seattle City Council. 

Nobody did - except one.The woman who did engage legal council was an 84 year old widow who had paid 24 years and 4 months of a 25 year mortgage.  

The city council is quite liberal and I love the idea of modular multi families on  vacant lots, not all lots are cost prohibitive.

Here's a decent link from a trade organization called CRE Finance Council that does a pretty good job in breaking down the subordinate debt markets and investment opportunities. https://www.crefc.org/crefcdocs/CREFCPrimerInvesti...Its a good starting point for you.