If you’re looking for a crystal ball to look into the future of real estate development, taking a deep look into the work being done by a land use and zoning law firm might be as closest you can get to the mythical crystal ball. Land use/zoning and real estate law firm Withey Morris just rebranded to Withey Morris Baugh and Jason Morris and Adam Baugh share five reason why zoning/land use is a leading economic indicator of where the Valley will be in two years.
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1. “A typical zoning case can take from six to 12 months to complete, and in some instances, even longer depending upon technical, neighborhood or political issues. So, what you see us working on now is what will likely be coming out of the ground in two years or so.”
2. “If you observe the types of cases dominating our agendas around the Valley (single-family, multifamily, industrial, retail, office, etc.), you’ll have a good sense of which direction the market is moving. Not surprisingly, we’re currently busy with multifamily and industrial cases.”
3. “Just like hot sectors of the market are evident from the types of land use cases we are pursuing, hot areas in the Valley are noticeable based on the number of cases being filed in a specific city, neighborhood or region.”
4. “Often, our cases seek to rezone land based upon anticipated infrastructure and transportation corridors which may not yet exist. Sometimes, those roadways, sewer and water lines are built because of the land use changes we are proposing. So if you see multiple cases in an area, you can count on new roads and pipes.”
5. “In addition to individual zoning cases for specific parcels of land, we are also called upon to create or amend regional and local plans which may impact large areas of land. These plans can signal major opportunities for future development.”
