Zoning can highlight real estate opportunities months—or even years—before they’re obvious to the broader market. When a city updates its code—allowing higher density or changing permitted uses—it effectively redefines a neighborhood’s future potential. Upzoning (for example, from single-family homes to multifamily) can boost property values long before any building permits are even filed.
We’re excited to share two new AI-generated reports from our Deepblocks AI analysis pipeline, which aims to provide real-time real estate insights for every city in the United States—all at once. These two articles focus on opposite ends of the population spectrum in Florida:
In our previous post, we showcased an AI-generated image depicting Miami Beach’s iconic Ocean Drive fully submerged, with amphibious cars cruising where streets once stood. While that vision reflected a broader concern about sea-level rise in Miami, our latest Deepblocks software analysis suggests a different flood scenario: the real threat may come from Biscayne Bay, not the Atlantic Ocean.
Recently, an AI-generated image showed Miami Beach’s iconic Ocean Drive submerged, with cars gliding over the water instead of asphalt. What’s most intriguing is that this image was produced using a single-word prompt—“Miami.” No additional context, no mention of climate change or amphibious vehicles. Yet, here we are, confronted by a vision of a future Miami that looks more like a waterborne Venice than the glamorous boulevard we all know.
Welcome to Deepblocks, where we’re redefining how real estate development opportunities are identified and analyzed. For our new followers, this post offers a comprehensive look into who we are, what we do, and how our AI-powered platform is transforming the real estate industry.
The recent rezoning of the Christ Episcopal Church's properties to T4-O opens up even greater possibilities when combined with Florida's Live Local Act. This legislation, designed to promote affordable housing, provides significant incentives for developments that meet specific criteria, further enhancing the potential of properties.
Recent zoning changes in South-West Coconut Grove, Miami, have dramatically increased the development potential of properties in the neighborhood. Our Zoning Signal algorithm has identified a cluster of properties that stand to benefit significantly from these changes, highlighting new opportunities for growth and investment in the area.
Our new algorithm, Zoning Signal, found intriguing insights into Miami's zoning changes between 2023 and 2024. Among the most significant findings are properties that underwent district name changes, signaling comprehensive transformations in their development potential and influencing surrounding areas to follow suit.
We are automatically tracking zoning changes and their impact on real estate investments. Between 2023 and 2024, 5,627 properties in the City of Miami experienced zoning changes that affected their potential buildable area. I'm excited to introduce Zoning Signal, an algorithm we've developed to analyze zoning yields before and after municipal zoning changes. Cities update their zoning regulations at least twice a year, which can significantly impact what can be built on a property—and, ultimately, its value.
Our latest algorithm has spotlighted underutilized properties in Wynwood-Edgewater. In this exercise, I focus on identifying owners with the most significant capacity for residential development. We've uncovered some intriguing insights by organizing the data by owner name and calculating the allowable units per property group.
Traditionally, zoning arbitrage has been labor-intensive, requiring extensive manual research into local zoning laws, property records, and development potential. However, digitizing zoning regulations across multiple cities revolutionizes this landscape, enabling the automation and scaling of zoning arbitrage detection.
As I continued to explore underutilized sites in Miami's Wynwood-Edgewater neighborhood, I focused on the second site with the highest number of units allowed by zoning regulations. Currently, this site has no residential units. The zoning permits up to 1,250 units on the 363,184-square-foot (SF) site. The existing structure occupies 763,761 SF and comprises ground-floor retail spaces and parking facilities.
