Political Due Diligence in Commercial Real Estate

Any company making decisions about a commercial real estate deal does a lot of due diligence. They study demographics, market share, infrastructure, and deal financials among other things. What too many still fail to do is a political due diligence. All land use decisions are political and the question needs to be asked – Is […]

When Public Hearings Go Horribly Wrong

Having a good project is not enough.Remember that it is all about the politics. A client recently asked me how to deal with an angry mob. If you are confronting an angry mob of residents opposing your project at a public hearing, you’re not alone. I can tell you it is happening across the US […]

A Developer’s Nightmare

  Whether you call them NIMBYs, BANANAs, CAVE* people or misinformed nutcases, they are organizing to stop your project and, often, they are winning.   Regardless of how good you think your project is and how hard you may have worked to address community needs they are still there screaming bloody murder at the public […]