A few months back, we had a client who came to us who wanted to build a small multifamily project in Melbourne. She hired an architect who did a preliminary design for her, then decided that the design-build methodology was best for her, so she hired us just before she closed on the land to complete the project. We saved her several hundred thousand dollars by doing a regulatory review. How?

When we take on a new project, even if a client comes to us to do a preliminary design, we always start with a regulatory review (it is Step 1 in our 10-step Design-Build Process). This is a code review of the site to see if the client can do what they would like to on the property. We look for things like:

• Does the current zoning and future land use coincide with what the client would like to build?
• What are the setback requirements? (Area around the perimeter of a project where you can not build.)
• Are there landscape requirements like landscape buffers or tree mitigation?
• What are the parking requirements?
• How large of a building can you build (permitted height, floor area ratio or FAR, etc.)
• Can the client fit the desired building and required parking onto the site?

For a multifamily project, one very important thing to look at was the number of dwelling units (du) that are permitted in that zoning category. The architect our client hired didn’t do a regulatory review and so he designed a 24-unit building on the site. Our regulatory review discovered that only 10 units were permitted. We called the municipality and asked what our client’s chances were of getting a variance to do 24 units. They told us, “Almost zero.” The site was near a beach and had two overlay districts.

We relayed the information to our client. She re-ran her proforma and the project, unfortunately, did not work with just 10 units. She was very relieved to discover this before she spent several hundred thousand dollars on land that she couldn’t use!

We had another client last year who did not do a regulatory review before purchasing his land and got stuck with a property he couldn’t develop. He purchased a small parcel of land in Orlando without doing any due diligence before closing. He hired us to design and build a small retail center. When we did our regulatory review, we discovered that his site was zoned for single family residences, so there were no commercial uses he could do without going through a lengthy entitlement process. We contacted the municipality about getting the zoning changed, but unfortunately, they were not willing to rezone just one small parcel in the area. So, our client can either sell his property or build a house there. Neither is a very attractive option for him.