They would put the 15 acres into Native Prairie and harvest the prairie seeds for Govt, State and other environmental projects and you would need to do nothing but enjoy the Prairie.

Once you locate land, there's engineering that needs to be done (civil, soils, electrical, environmental, structural, etc.) environmental issues may need to be addressed, availability of utilities and proximity to parcel, cost of grading, installing utilities, paving, sidewalks, parcel maps or possibly subdivision map.

My concern is, I'm afraid there's a hidden surprise that would only be uncovered by performing an expensive environmental cert.

My guess is that if you sold it off-market to a private party it would matter less, but then you'd have less exposure of course.The biggest issue I've noticed about properties where the zoning is odd/unusual/not what you'd expect based on the current usage, is that often they are in very not-great areas.For example, the property you're talking about, would not surprise me if it's on a short street and next to or across from an abandoned / boarded-up factory, railroad tracks, etc. and all the properties on that short street are either vacant or in rough shape.I'm not just being pessimistic, I've researched a lot of properties and the few times these zoning mismatches pop up, seems more often than not to be a situation like that.So to me the issue isn't the zoning per se, it's that the zoning itself is an indicator of something else that's less desirable about the property, such as what's around it.The Providence zoning code is online and in the Industrial Districts section defines Light Industrial (M-1) as: "The M-1 light industrial district is intended for light industrial and office park uses that accommodate a variety of manufacturing, assembly, storage of durable goods, and related activities provided that they do not pose toxic, explosive or environmental hazard in the city."

 I recently bought a multifamily building and have to account for all the items in the closing documents on my accounting software.Loan Origination Fee =Appraisal Fee =Suits, lean, judgment search =Loan doc prep fee =Flood certification fee =Environmental Review Fee =Wire Transfer Fee =Title search =Title examination =Attorney’s Fees =Title Insurance = Recording Fees =Another recording fee =Electronic recording fee=delivery fee =I know how to categorize some of them.

the reason I want to partner with a contractor is being new to fix and flip, it'd give them more incentive to do better work and not just disappear, be cost conscious, focus on "our" property. 

Implementing unique design cues and/or a small solar system could do just that (especially in areas where consumers are more conscious of social/environment/green issues).

Have a clear conscious and good kharma. . 

One of the biggest things I learned through my counseling education is/was good intentions doesn't mean a decision/action was ethically sound.I am a human and I still feel bad for people no matter how clean my own conscious is. 

Or maybe I'm too nice/tenant conscious...