What can I do with my site?

Understanding the full potential of your site and identifying the best way to release it at the start will ensure a higher reward, less risk and none of that icky regret at the end.

Why is a Feasibility important?

When asked what we thought is probably the single most important step in the property development process, there was one thing in particular that sprung to our minds. We went on to explain that the number one reason why property development projects fail usually comes down to bad planning. So to avoid this pitfall, we always suggest if you aren't familiar with the development process (and even if you are), then the best place to start is with a pre-development feasibility report. Below we'll briefly introduce you to the concept of a feasibility and how a documented plan will help you fast track various aspects of your project. There are an overwhelming amount of development options on the property menu. A Pre-Development Feasibility aka a 'Feaso' in our language, provides you with a tasting board of potential options, tailored specifically to your site.

What zone are you in?

Firstly, it will identify which Unitary Plan Zone your site falls under; each zone has a different set of rules that you must abide by. Now, we won’t go into detail of what each of the different zones are and what rules they each have, we will save that for another day.

Luckily for us, it's pretty simple to find out which zone your site falls under, you can even do it yourself by simply going to a site like homes.co.nz and looking up your address.

Go on, give it a try.

Look at that! You're one step closer to becoming a property developer already.

Recognising the site constraints

So, once you know what zone you are in, the Feaso applies these rules and identifies all the different site constraints and highlights any issues. It’s so important to be made aware of these very early on and it avoids causing any headaches further down the track. It provides you with an analysis of all existing services such as wastewater, stormwater, manholes, etc. and the proposed connections to go forward.

Now we would just like to stress the importance of this component, because if you don’t realise that your stormwater connection is actually 50m up the road and you have to put 50m of public infrastructure in - that’s another $100,000 you’re going to have to spend.

Yikes. So you can see, a Feaso is mighty important.

3D Modelling

This is where the exciting part begins. You actually get to see your options for your site displayed for you in a 3D model. How cool is that? You get to see all the development controls on what is allowed, what's being proposed, and how it complies. The model really starts to give you an idea of how your development could look and how many units can fit on your site.

What about the cost?

Now the part you've all been waiting for; how much is this thing actually gonna cost me?

Our price is $10k + GST, and for this, we look at one development option and run some high-level numbers for the project to get an idea of the total project costs from start to finish. If you would like us to investigate alternative development options, we charge $3k per additional option.

The reports include:

• overview of the report, the development process, and our team
• existing site plan with zone description, development controls, and overlays
• development analysis plan highlighting any potential site issues or constraints
• review of existing services and proposed connections
• site mesh modelled in 3D
• 3D bulk and mass investigation showing potential development option/s
• assessment of option/s against relevant Council development controls and overlays
• high-level cost estimate for total project costs
• summary of potential issues plus an indication of steps forward

So now that we've taken you through the journey of exploring a Feaso, you can see why we said, in our expert opinion, it is the number one most important step in the property development process.

I Am Developer

Our 'Value Release Reports' will supply you with a full pre-development feasibility for your site. Understanding the full potential of your site early on, and identifying the best way to release it will ensure a higher reward, less risk and none of that icky regret at the end. We begin every Value Release Report by getting to know you and your long-term objectives, then jotting down some of those big ideas you’ve got bouncing around. From there, our designers and zoning experts will take a good hard look at your golden egg and come back with the best options, including high-level project costs from start to glorious finish. In just two weeks, we can provide you with a plan and a highly-regarded tool for talking to banks, mortgage brokers and builders. It's the best way to kick-start your project into gear.