Where to start for long time land owners

[RocketScientist]

My family and neighbors have owed land adjacent to a large Southeastern Conference university for a long time, a few of them for over a hundred years. It seems, with those who still reside there being in retirement with children who have moved away, all are interested in doing something that leaves a legacy while makes some money for retirement and the grandkids. The land consists of 10-40 acres (depending on who participates) in the county (non-zoned). The water assoc buys from the university and the houses have septic tanks. Anywhere from five to ten landowners could be involved. The land literally across the street from the campus. This would be the closest non-campus community to the center of the university. As you can tell the land is on the opposite side of campus from the local town. Enrollment is somewhere around 20,00 students. The community has been approached by developers of fairly cookie-cutter campus housing or traditional shopping centers.

It seems that some type of mixed use community would be the best fit, but I'm no planning professional, just a long-time enthusiast. How do you search for advisors who can make solid economic case for the best use for the land and return on investment? How do you find and attract the developers who are interested or capable of doing the type of project in mind. Also, what type of advisors are needed when negotiating with developers to keep the interests of the landowners in mind. Maybe the most basic question, is there a precedence for owners to successfully organize themselves into a organization that can pull something like this off without losing their shirts?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks for your time.

[Cardinal]

What you would most likely want to do is first determine what you would like to see done with the property and then find a developer with whom you can participate. Your investment would be the value of the land, while the developer would contribute additional funding and expertise.

As for determining what can be done, the first step would be to review planning documents from the city and county. They may have already determined a future land use that may be compatible with your vision. If not, thare is always the potential that the use could be changed. To determine what can be done with the property you should perform a best use analysis. This analysis will look at market conditions and identify current/near-term demand for various uses, then recommend the best mix of uses for the property based on its characteristics and competition. It may also include a rough concept sketch. Hiring a firm capable of doing this will cost you, but the good news is that the cost is less than it would have been before the recession. To give you an idea of the cost, my company typically charges $8,000 to $12,000 for sites comparable to this. Having a best use analysis completed should help you to make your case to both planners and potential developers.

[RocketScientist]

Thanks for the advice, Cardinal. We will look into what the county has planned, if anything. When searching for firms to do "best use analysis", is it more important that they are familiar with the area or familiar with the type of development desired? A quick search turned up some Atlanta firms that look promising.

[Cardinal]

You want a company that has done this kind of analysis before. They do not have to know the area, so much as they have to possess the right skills and experience to do the analysis. I imagine Atlanta would have the right kind of companies doing real estate market research, who are likely not planners or engineers that tend to focus more on physical due diligence.