Have you ever considered what it takes for raw land to turn into the massive land developments we see all around us? Very few things in the world take as much consideration as how to create a land development. It takes land developers many months to look into past, present and future information to ensure that they have created a sound plan for the environment to develop the land for the purposes the developer needs it to accommodate.
Research is done for land development because each separate project has its own issues and special circumstances that make it unique. Surveyors and Civil Engineers work closely together to look into every possible potential issue to make sure they have a plan for anything that can happen with a land development project. Things such as drainage, ground stability and the other structures surrounding the project are all some of the things that need to be taken into consideration before the shovel breaks ground.
There are steps that land developers must take on their journey into developing a piece of raw land. First, they must spend an ornate amount of time looking into all of the factors that affect a project. They track economic trends to see if investing time and money in to a land development project is profitable. They also look into things like population growth and job growth to determine the growth of an area. This step usually involves many different professionals. Government officials, business members, real estate professionals and builders will meet with a land developer to create a due diligence report. This eliminates all the guess work involved and puts the facts in place to determine the worthiness of a proposed project.
Once developers have found land, determined that an area’s growth rate is worthy of the proposed project developers will go about negotiating for the acquisition of the raw land. There are two common ways most developers go about this process they are; purchasing the land upfront with cash or negotiating an option to purchase the land by a set date and price by putting a large deposit down. The second option is considered more favorable because it leaves developers funds available for the project at hand. It is unwise to tie up working capital when working on land development projects.
Next land developers draw up architectural plans for approval by local government officials. Whether land is being developed for a sub division, a professional complex, an industrial park or a shopping plaza plans need to be approved by officials and if funding is be acquired by outside investors should also be involved in approving the proposed draft. This step all involves accessing permits by all stages of government that are needed for the developer’s project to continue smoothly.
Lastly the land will be converted from raw, natural land into what land that has been processed into a state that makes it useful and valuable to the land developer and all participants involved in the process. Builders come in purchase the land and begin turning it into a piece of property that fulfills the need of the surrounding community.
Land development takes a piece of Earth that most people look at as a vacant wasteland without purpose and turns the natural, raw, land into a plot of riches. Developers take on the huge risks involved in land development because of the large reward financially in the end.