What the site can become, and whether to find out before you sell it
Raw acreage and an approved subdivision are the same dirt at very different prices. The work in between is zoning, SEQR and a run of municipal meetings. We tell you what that path looks like on your parcel, what it is likely to cost in time and money, and whether the value it adds is worth carrying.
Sell it as it is, or sell it approved
An unentitled site is priced on what a buyer thinks they can get approved, discounted for the risk that they cannot. An entitled site is priced on what the approval says. The gap between those two numbers is the reason to do the work, and it is not always bigger than the cost of doing it.
The answer depends on the town, the use, the infrastructure and how long you can wait. We would rather tell you not to bother than sell you two years of meetings that end where you started.
What we look at, and in what order
- 01Zoning, honestly readDistrict, permitted and special-permit uses, lot and bulk requirements, setbacks, height, coverage, parking. Then the part that decides projects: what the board has actually approved nearby, which is not always what the code implies.
- 02What the land will physically takeWetlands, steep slopes, floodplain, soils and the drainage that comes with them. Water and sewer capacity, or the septic and well the site will need instead. Access, sight distance and the curb cut, which on a state road means the DOT is a party to your project.
- 03The SEQR pathWhether the action is Type II, unlisted or Type I, who is likely to be lead agency, and what an environmental assessment form will ask for. Getting this wrong at the start is how a nine-month approval becomes a two-year one.
- 04The approval sequenceSite plan, subdivision, special permit, variance, or some combination, in the order the municipality actually runs them. Which board sees it first, what each one will want to see, and where the public hearings fall.
- 05Time and cost, stated as a rangeEngineering, survey, environmental, legal and application fees, with the meeting calendar they attach to. Ranges, not promises: no one can guarantee a board's schedule, and anyone who does is selling something.
- 06What each step is worthThe value at each stage, so you can stop at the point where the curve flattens. Often that is a concept plan and a positive SEQR determination rather than a full approval.
A written strategy, not a conversation you have to remember
The deliverable is a memo you can hand to your attorney, your engineer, a partner or a buyer.
Where this comes from
The firm has marketed 50-lot subdivisions, 5,000-unit townhouse communities and 500,000 square foot redevelopment sites, alongside the single storefronts and small industrial buildings that make up most weeks. Land and entitlement work is where the reputation was built, and it still shapes how we underwrite everything else.
One limit, stated plainly: we are brokers, not attorneys, engineers or planners. We do not prepare the applications or argue them. We work out the strategy, tell you who you need, and sit in the room while it happens, because the outcome is what the property is worth.