I am gathering some investor friends now to go in, but was hoping to do this small development without giving up equity. 

Here is some information about Modesto and nearby areas: Here is some information on Riverbank expansion and Costco development slated to complete at the middle of this year: https://www.theriverbanknews.com/news/prep-work-costco-now-underway-riverbank/Here is information on Modesto's North Corridor expansion in the same area: https://northcountycorridorphase1.com/ and video here: https://youtu.be/IjyXegECcycCeres has just put in a new strip at the Gateway Center and they are building out a hotel.

It has great macroeconomics because big companies like Intel, Facebook, Honda, Google and others are all moving and developing here.

He also said that he will move Space Exploration Technologies Corp. from Hawthorne to its Starbase in South Texas where it is developing plans to one day send humans to Mars.The move further cements Musk's influence on the Austin area and, more broadly, the state of Texas.

100% Understand.........I had 750 Tenants living in my MF Bldg's..........There are absolutely ways to get off the SFH treadmill, trading those assets in one shot and stepping into low-risk, single-tenant, 10+ year leased properties, backed by Nat'l Credit Tenants like FedEx, Amazon, UPS, and other solid companiesLooking for a better strategy, I combined my banking, real estate & Renewable Energy experience to develop the "Energized Real Estate" model. 

I live in miami florida now and I moved for larger scale developments here because of the net migration but columbus ohio the economics allow for that. existing inventory has been tougher and at the pricing inc columbus you may as well build new because you can build new less than replacement costs in a lot of the markets downtown. it's about being in adjacent downtown neighborhoods where property values and rents are higher. land values are the biggest driver of how well you can buy land to develop followed by permitted uses or rezoning applications. 

Good luck on the lot development downtown.  

I've worked on private RE deals at hedge funds, I'm currently developing 2 projects, each 18 unit workforce MF's, and buying a property at foreclosure auction.

It all goes back to personal development and finding out what is truly holding you back.

If you're also considering other markets, you may want to look into Columbus as it has great macroeconomics with lots of growth - population, jobs, and companies developing here.