The following year would be considered passive, so even if you materially participated, it would still be passive the following year and you cannot offset your W2.Is this accurate? 

I'd not been there for several months as is often the case and didn't know it but they'd instituted a new policy where buyers need to show an official ID when going up to pay after winning that bid, this due to the goofs who were wholesaling or whatever and would put their 10% down and then use whatever name, so they could then simply call their buyers and find whoever wanted to buy it and then that person would show up for the confirmation hearing and pay the balance.

We have a few preliminary meetings with some investment groups that that like to participate as  LP's.

Big plans for reviving Slavic Village – NEOtrans (neo-trans.blog)Cleveland Clinic announces $1.3 billion in projects, including new Neurological Institute on its main campus in Cleveland - cleveland.comOne of these projects include a new 1,000,000 square foot facility in Cleveland.

Also, equity in general (meaning high net worth individuals/families, hedge funds, institutional) are only going to back  experienced developers when it comes to an asset class as niche as data centers, especially since there are so many things that can go wrong: what if that submarket doesn't have a need for that use by the time you are entitled? 

It's what institutional investors do in markets they buy.

Can you give me more details of what you mean by a participation agreement? 

How is it your agent's fault that you didn't participate as fully as you wanted to in hindsight? 

Renovated all apartments, converted M2M tenants to annual leases, instituted strict rental criteria, implemented online payment portal, invested $75,000 into leasehold improvements (HVAC, drainage, exterior paint, concrete.)

Materially participate in crafting your goal(s), your plan (working backwards from your specified goal(s).