Land development or something

[George G.]

Does anyone have any knowledge or experience in land development? More along the lines of having a building built for a business or where to start? Thanks.

[True Blue Aggie]

I could possibly help you with this. What do you need?

[George G.]

My wife and I would like to move her business out of my house and into a building. Only thing is in my area there are no pre existing buildings that we could look into leasing. So it seems that our option would be to have something built but the land available has not been developed(i.e. no sewage, drianing, electricity etc). Before we could go to the bank or look for invenstors or whatever, I guess I would need to know what something like that would cost. Who does that kinda thing?

[blueoval01]

Does your wife need a specific location? Like close to an airport?
I've had a small amount of experience in this, but it has mainly boiled down to two things.
Type of business and location x 3.

Here is some basic knowledge. (http://www.onlinewbc.gov/docs/finance/lease_cost.html)

[True Blue Aggie]

A lot of people who want to build there own site (building, parking, etc.) will over build there lot...by providing multiple tenant spaces. You can defer the costs of building itself on some of your investors based on there pre-lease agreements. In situations like this, you would definitely want to be involved with a corporate partner who would be able to manage the additional leases on the property. There are way too many of those companies to list, but I would talk with some of the strip centers anywhere near your area to figure out who there landlord is.

Or, depending on the site, talk with the city or county (whoever has developmental control of the property) about what there plans are for the area you would like to build in. If the city or county has any type of plans for a central business district, or specific zoning areas for small business buildings, they could point you in the right direction as far as where you could build. Then you could decide if this is something you want to do on your own, or with sub-lease partners. That would at least get you enough information to present to a bank or corporate lender, and would show them you have done your intial homework on the possible build.

Going to your preferred bank would help also because they could at least show you that you could build, based on your financial ability to pay the note on the building. If you cannot, then they could point you to a possible third party that you could rent space from.

This is a small start to building, but I hope this helps.:tu:

[George G.]

Well, my wife runs a licensed home childcare center. It's been very successful for the past 3 years but has reached it's capacity for a home. She doesn't want to be one of the "strip mall daycares" so we've ruled out that idea(actually my veto powers were nulled). Location would have to be near our neighborhood(20 & GSW Pkwy). We've found several lots for sale but we're talking just dirt, nothing built yet. For the most part, I think they're already zoned commercial and the neighborhoods are growing with new housing.

[blueoval01]

....... show them you have done your intial homework on the possible build.
George, Michael makes some very good points here.
My .02 is to ask, what are other "Commercial" (Not home based) daycare facilities doing?
Are they buying/building? Or Leasing? AND why??!!

[George G.]

I'll see what more info I can gather. thanks for the tips.