Preliminary urban land use planning

The purpose of this report is to create a primer of basic real estate development principles and practices pertaining to preliminary urban land use planning. The report is directed toward the decision maker who is oftentimes not a sophisticated real estate professional. Normally, the decision maker is the owner of the property or a small developer who selects the land use based upon his limited experience. A methodology is developed for performing a preliminary site plan analysis, and rules of thumb for development are embodied in a use compatibility analysis to aid the decision maker in seiecting the feasible alternatives to be tested by market analysis and financial analysis. An overview of market analysis and financial analysis is presented with the idea that a professional should be employed at this stage to verify the decision maker\u27s alternative selection. Finally, there is a discussion of the development process and the various professionals employed in the process. It is anticipated that this paper will help the decision maker formulate better plans for development which in turn should reduce his cost and increase his probability of success