There has been quite a bit of development and the area has a wide variety of amenities, including a Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Harbor Greens, etc. 

The key is to not get too greedy and pull out too much of that equity.There are several hedge fund type lenders around now that will loan you 30 year fixed money on a commercial property at higher interest rates in the 7% range if you are that concerned about it.

I'm kind of wanting to leverage that for less money if he gets greedy.

If you are seeing people making money from rising prices, it's because they bought when it was cheap, when no one else was buying.As Warren Buffett always says, "Be scared when other people are greedy.  

Fund their marketing efforts and in return ask for Right of first refusal on anything they turn upAnything else is wholesaled or farmed out for profitYour marketing costs are reimbursed before profit splitThis set up will work well as long as neither gets greedy.

If the difference between cost and FMV is pretty big and they tack on extra anyway, well then that's just greedy, and you don't want greed to be the defining characteristic of someone you're going to be partnering with for 10+ years.I suppose in markets with rapid inflation, like Southern California, such pricing might make some sense, but I'd still be wary - even in the priciest markets like CA, NY, HI, further appreciation isn't guaranteed, so paying extra in anticipation of increasing values seems...iffy.

Be ready to deal, don't get greedy.

If you don't need to lowball and be part of a "best and final" game, then don't get greedy!

Following up on above: Since a professional real estate borrower can indeed deduct interest he does pay, according to the IRS, interest he is contractually obligated to pay but doesn't, can apparently be considered income against him, and thus expense to the lender@Dan Rudolph  - Your comment is well-taken (love Tesla :-)   but there is a key difference: Tesla is not contractually obligated to its stock traders to pay $X.    

I just don't want to be greedy and it not sale and us have to drop the price.