deepblog

Are there assemblage opportunities in Bridgeport, Chicago?

Bridgeport is a low-density Chicago neighborhood, most sites yield between 5 and 15 units. We have to assemble adjacent parcels to develop a multifamily project of 30+ units. Assemblages are composed of properties that have good criteria for development. How to analyze properties for assemblages? Assemblages require adjacent sites with...

How many multifamily assemblage opportunities are in West Town, Chicago?

Assemblages are growing in popularity due to the lack of land for new development. The key is to find a set of adjacent properties that all have high development multiples. Then negotiate these properties with their respective owners. It is preferable to find assemblage opportunities with the same owner. Depending...

How many sites have development potential in Chicago?

Chicago has 604,319 properties under the Chicago Zoning Map. Today we looked into which ones have development potential using the development multiple calculations. For example, we’d like to filter sites where the total buildable area is ten times the existing building area. We narrowed it down to three sets. The...

We have zoning for 16,430,232 sites in the US.

Yesterday we got the news that commercial real estate data giant, Lightbox, acquired the zoning data company PZR. Along with the acquisition, Lightbox now has more than 223,000 digitized property zoning reports. This acquisition is a great validator of all the work we’ve been doing for the past five years....

Interested in the Chicago Zoning Map?

You are not alone. The Chicago zoning map is currently the most analyzed among all metropolitan cities. We looked into it, and it makes sense; Chicago is amidst a dozen mega development projects. The size of these developments has a significant impact on the surrounding properties. Everyone is looking to...

Looking for Multifamily Development Opportunities?

The easiest way to find development opportunities for multifamily is to canvass the city based on units allowed. Deepblocks has built a city-wide search in which every parcel already has all its zoning rules baked in; that way, they are searchable. Searching by units allowed is most straightforward in cities...

Why is the total buildable area the ultimate zoning value?

Total buildable area is the ultimate zoning value because it can be used to compare all parcels across a city. Total buildable area normalizes parcels and allows us to compare how much we can build, apples to apples. At the city scale, this metric gives us an instant snapshot of...

What is a development multiple?

A development multiple tells us how much development potential there is on any given property. It is an abstraction of how much room is available for development. At scale, development multiples tell us how much a city region can grow. We divide the total buildable area by the existing building...

Can the Inland Empire be the foundation for a circular city?

Shorter delivery times are a general demand. If products need to be closer to the people, one option is to bring the warehouses into the city, which I explored in last week’s post. A second option would be to build cities over warehouse districts. Think multilayered Chicago, in which elevated...

Can industrial warehouses and residential zoning coexist?

It is inevitable and the only way to fulfill the expectations of nearly instant delivery times. The only way to speed up delivery times is to bring the warehouses closer to our homes. I recently purchased an exercise machine for my home gym. I could have ordered it on Amazon,...

Meet the top 30 Miami Founders of 2022

Miami Girls Foundation and Design District Miami present 2022 Miami Founders Award to recognize top 30 companies and women-founders behind them. To celebrate the legacy of Miami as the only major American city founded by a woman, Miami Girls Foundation in partnership with Design District Miami will recognize 30 leaders,...

What are the goals of our cities?

What are the goals of our cities? Conserve and replenish natural environments Inclusivity and support for social interaction Attract private investments Our cities result from geometric urban design in collision with the economics of real estate development. Shaping a city is not trivial. Architects and urban planners mostly do this...