Real Estate Development involves several critical steps.  City Planners and Developers are becoming increasingly aware of the design and presentation techniques now available to them.  From Satellite Imaging to Global Positioning Systems (Used to create accurate land surveys), it has never been easier to access current and up-to-date information.

Step 1  is obviously identifying all the possibilities available for a particular state, town, or individual property. (Including topography, demographics, water and geological rights, plus regional and local politics, etc.).  Gathering the raw data and redisplaying it, in various forms for analysis, allows complex and difficult planning concepts to be developed and understood.  Controversial issues such as the U.N.'s  Agenda-21  should not be ignored.  Private-Public-Partnerships, better known as "PPP Agreements" between local Governments and Private Land Owners, will increasingly draw a line between sovereign property rights (protected by Constitutional Law) and 'Global Control and Redistribution of Resources'.

Step 2  is zeroing in on zoning requirements, entitlements and financing.  Preliminary meetings with Federal, State and Local Agencies; as well as City Planning Departments are essential at this stage.  As the project's shape and direction begin to take form, on-line research web sites such as  FactFinder.census.gov  will become valuable resources.  For more localized planning and zoning information, many of the larger cities have very well maintained and informative web sites.  An excellent example of this is the well designed  NavigateLA.lacity.org  web site for the City of Los Angeles, California. Similar web sites can be easily found on the Internet through any one of the available search engines. For more detailed zoning information in Los Angeles, look up  Zimas.lacity.org  which allows search by street address or assessor parcel no. (APN).

Step 3  however, is the step that will determine the level of efficiency and success that a particular presentation will achieve.  It's not enough to come up with a brilliant analysis and design scheme - It still has to be sold to all of the private parties and government agencies involved.  Presentation quality is everything.

Samples of 3D Computer Image, Massing Study and Physical Models above courtesy of S.O.M. Los Angeles, The Landau Partnership, and John Dolinsky Associates respectively.