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Properly planned and visualized, large scale developments can be success fully constructed whether as master planned communities, planned unit developments, or new towns. Fundamentals of Land Development provides an in-depth approach to the design, planning, and development of large land areas into comprehensively designed communities.
This book provides in-depth discussions of the full range of development tasks involved in any large development project, from site and land use selection, market analysis, preparing the land use plan and impact statements, to getting approval from the municipality and community, permitting and approval, scheduling and cost management, and the basics of engineering systems and design.
Developers and other stakeholders will find guidance on such issues as:
- How real-world development is driven by profits and how team members can maximize profits while developing creatively and responsibly.
- Site selection and acquisition.
- Entering the growing business of retirement (active adult) community development.
Illustrated with real-world case studies drown from the authors own experience, Fundamentals of Land Development is a practical manual for developers looking to improve the profitability of their projects and gain a better understanding of what all team members undertake in a project of this size and complexity.
Fundamentals of Land Development: A Real-World Guide to Profitable Large-Scale Development provides an in-depth approach to the design, planning and development of large land areas into comprehensively designed communities. Covering the full range of development tasks involved in any large development project, it is a practical manual for developers looking to improve the profitability of their projects and gain a better understanding of what all team members undertake in a project of this size and complexity.
Features:
- The only book to present the growing field of large-scale, greenfield development, this book provides practical, real-world guidance on developing large-scale land projects, profitably, and on schedule.
- Covers subjects ranging from site and land use selection, market analysis, preparing the land use plan and impact statements, getting approval from the municipality and community, permitting and approval, scheduling and cost management, and the basics of engineering systems and designs.
- Written by an author with over 30 years of practical experience developing over 10,000 housing units.
- Reveals how real-world development is driven by profits, and how team members can maximize profits while developing creatively and responsibly.
- Includes chapter on site selection and acquisition.
- Unique chapter on the growing business of retirement (active adult) community development.
- Dozens of real-world case studies from the author's own experience illustrate and support ideas and concepts.
From the Preface
Future planning approaches to the development of land may not be unique or inspirational, but must always be cost effective and marketable. New concepts in living environments are new forms of market-proven successes. The fragmentation of the building industry and the unwillingness of many entrepreneurs to invest time and financial resources into niche markets, specialty products, or innovative land plans will result in many standard housing approaches. This will further separate the housing markets, and the national builders share in the housing starts will continue to increase. Large-scale developments properly planned and visualized have been successfully constructed as master planned communities, planned unit developments, or new towns. This book will outline a systematic glance at all the various aspects of developing a successful and profitable large-scale project.
As the national builders gain in market share in even second-tier markets, the outlook for continued growth of small- and medium-size builders and developers will diminish. This prognostication is not the demise of small- to medium-size builders and developers, but a chance for these companies to evaluate land in a different fashion. Large-scale developments will continue to foster the entrepreneurial spirit. Projects promoting sustained development approaches treat the use of land in a way that promotes and enhances the quality of life. Overall land-use planning for a project essentially absorbs the land through product and market segmentation. This planning methodology is available for those willing to create a vision by combining uses of land into a cohesive and fundamentally sound living environment.
Traditionally, local governments have regulated the way land is planned through zoning laws and master plans. Regulating where and the way people should live has been driven by planning principles promoting suburban developments. This is because land is less expensive outside the urban zones, and the building community will gravitate to land priced below the market while striving to increase density. What results are larger homes on smaller lots without linkage to services and commercial cores to achieve sustainability. Urban centers promoting high densities will force development patterns toward existing services. This will not, however, eliminate the demand for a place to live and work outside of an urban environment.
New development patterns beyond urban cores must be embraced by local communities supporting the master planning of an area with diversification in housing segments, urban densities, and urban core values. The migration to outlying housing areas is a result of the home-buying public enhancing their quality of life while achieving housing affordability, but spending more time in long-distance commuting. Well-planned and -designed large-scale developments with market and housing segmentation, combined with visionary land-use and urban-core attributes will create a thriving point of destination. This large-scale planning approach cannot and will not be equaled by combining independent housing projects into a cohesive community environment.
Large-scale developments provide workable housing solutions only if the approach is supported by local government. This book addresses the practical approach of developing profitable large-scale developments. The reader may use this text as a guide in designing, obtaining entitlements, and constructing large-scale developments that meet the demands of their marketplace. Large-scale developments are not defined by area, density of development, or number of housing units, but are defined as property comprehensively planned with various land uses tied together with a vision of including living and working components into the plan.
About the Author
David E Johnson PE PP has been responsible for the design, permitting development, and construction of residential projects and mixed-use communities. He has been a presenter of land development and land planning topics at numerous ASCE and NAHB workshops held throughout the United States. Mr. Johnson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from West Virginia University Institute of Technology, and is a part-time instructor on land development at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Table of Contents
Preface. Acknowledgements. Chapter 1: Comprehensive Site-Planning Overview. Chapter 2: Site Analysis. Chapter 3: Base-Map Preparation. Chapter 4: Marketing Studies and Market Considerations. Chapter 5: Land-Use Concepts. Chapter 6: "Boomers" and "Golden Agers." Chapter 7: Preparing a Land-Use Plan. Chapter 8: Common-Area Improvements and Amenities. Chapter 9: Government Agencies and the Approval Process. Chapter 10: Project Master Schedule. Chapter 11: Community Relations. Chapter 12: Engineering Design Standards. Chapter 13: Project Impact Studies. Chapter 14: Community Covenants and Restrictions. Chapter 15: Costs and Budget. Chapter 16: Community-Design Trends. Chapter 17: Case Study. Discussion Topcs Reference Guide. Illustration Credits. Index. |
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