I am in the process of finishing construction plans on a really cool industrial design loft multiplex.

If you do need an owner rep my first suggestion would be to approach the architect who did the design and see what their fees are for doing this.

Yes consult the entire design team, architect, structural, civil.

Because I'm an engineer, my first step is to draw up plans (do a design). 

@Nicholas Gessner actually that happens to be one of my listings, zoning is area specific, LH (limited historic) where you are looking is designated ground level can be retail/office, upstairs can be residential.

@Deborah Asbury the best way to find contractors is to talk to architects, designers, engineers, realtors, investors as well as other contractors that are too busy.

If you haven't come across AirDNA (www.airdna.co) yet, I'd recommend checking it out - seems like a very well-designed tool for evaluating STR markets.

“[Homebuyers] are attracted to the development mainly due to the site’s attributes and architectural design of the building,” says Eugene Lim, key executive officer of ERA Realty Network.Located in District 3, One Pearl Bank is within walking distance of Chinatown and is the only development atop Pearl’s Hill.

The way I have seen this typically done is to write the contract contingent on city approval of utility, street, and subdivision design.

There's a sprinkler system throughout the garden.One possible headache is the fact that the homeowner (my friend is the owner but there will be other renters in the 4 bedroom house) may end up subsidizing the cost of watering the garden trees/shrubs by virtue of the fact the brick walled garden surrounds the entire backyard.Other than leaving everything as is and just explaining to potential renters that the people in the home end up footing the water bill for the shrubs / trees, is there a low-cost design and easy to rehab design tweak that could be made to the garden wall to alleviate this concern?