Careers
June 22, 2021
In today’s real estate environment, it’s more important than ever for property owners looking to sell, or even those who might consider selling in the near future, to take proper steps to ensure their property is as close to “shovel ready” as possible.
Consumers in general have little patience these days – real estate is no different.
State, local and federal governments also are calling for shovel-ready projects to keep economic growth strong.
The challenge is that the lifespan of a real estate development project typically takes years of design, planning, entitlements and financing.
To the extent any required steps could be addressed sooner, property owners should take a more proactive approach and consider the following:
- Facilitate a quick transaction by spending time and money up front to do environmental studies and/or remediation, lot splits and rezonings
- Assess any possible disruptions in the supply chain and increased cost of materials and find alternate solutions
- Take into account the post-pandemic environment where workforces are downsizing and working remotely
- Ensure projects are resilient and sustainable in a rapidly changing world with extreme weather and a variety of uncertainties
- Examine how much economic growth the project will generate
- Work with a consultant to find existing funding streams and/or grants
- Find ways to combine projects to leverage the most out of your funds
- Identify efficient projects that are modular, replicable or integrate new technology and design
If a site is perceived as having too much hair on it, or it will take too long for all the necessary entitlements, then buyers and end users are more likely to move onto the next site that is more shovel ready.
This article also appeared in Crain’s Cleveland Business here.