Depending on the building, also be aware of significant mechanical items such as elevators, boilers, life/safety systems, etc.

If you go single family, with values as elevated as they are, you may be able to make a good equity play, but cash flow will be tight unless your down payment is huge.  

I imagine there would be more engineering go into such a project than a horizontal addition.Going from 2 to 4 stories, for example, could limit marketability without also adding an elevator and other accessibility accommodations for the aging populace.

There are 2 tiers behind the house, but to bring the second tier up to the same elevation as the house we will need around 500 to 700 CY of fill.

Now I generally do an open-house style showing with a handful of prospects and have a lease signed shortly thereafter.My guess is that the complexes mentioned in the article as well as the new development across from the (soon to be "ex") site of the UofL grain elevators will pull quite a few tenants out of the neighboring areas.  

My goal for creating the thread was to see if everyone else was experiencing the same levels of price elevation and or investors were still finding deals.

I run high level preliminary numbers based on my cost per square foot to build taking into considerations any difficulties or additional work the lot requires i.e underground parking, steel podium, elevator, ledge, etc.

John Warren interesting indeed, I'll keep elevating and hopefully I make the plunge soon.

Check with the municipality to determine if they will grant a U&O for the property at its current elevation or will they require it to be raised. 

Your best thing to do is to prepare your "elevator speech" and why they should invest in you.