They should respect you from the start or it's a rough road ahead.

If the tenant does not  have money now, which is hard to imagine considering stimulus, enhanced unemployment, and laxed unemployment guidelines, I don't know how they will ever be able to catch up and are just kicking the can down the road for financial ruin. 

If you're looking to do a 1031 you should start looking asap as you'll only have 45 days from your sale to identify a new one.

We are (3 partners one partner is an Architect) planning on a multifamily project and identified the lot, talked to city its commercial zoned and no restrictions. 

Question 2: I do plan to create a fund down the road and fund it with capital gain.

Once you identify a few, go and drive them and see how the areas look. 

I believe the leased panels may also make it trickier to sell the property down the road, but not positive about that. 

As an active investor (GP) that means developing all the attributes that are consistent with being a good sponsor, to be able to identify, acquire, manage, and exit and asset that provide passive investor like yourself the desired returns.  

I say go for it, have the conversation with a lender about refinancing etc that might help down the road :)

Identify few local property managers - Let them know that they will be the one managing the property if you acquire it through them.