How build-to-suit and site selection work
A build-to-suit is a building designed for one occupant before it is built. For a user, that means the dock doors, clear heights, drive-through lane or clinical layout are right from the first day instead of adapted from someone else’s plan. Our part is the real estate: the site search, the acquisition, and the structure of the deal — whether the user buys the land and builds with its own design and construction team, or buys the finished building from a developer who builds it to the user’s plans.
We represent the user or the developer in the purchase; we do not design or build. The architects, civil engineers and contractors are yours, or ones we introduce, and the decisions stay with you. Our work runs from the program to the closing — on the land, or on the finished building when a developer builds it for you.
Who we represent
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Owner-users and franchisees
Operators who want to own their real estate: quick-service and drive-through restaurant franchisees, fuel and convenience, car wash, medical, dental and veterinary groups, contractors, distributors and light manufacturers that have outgrown the space they are in.
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Developers building for a user
Merchant builders who develop a site to a committed user’s plans and sell the finished building to that user at completion, and self-storage or industrial developers assembling pad-ready sites for their own projects.
What we do
- Site selection — trade-area and corridor screening against the program (use, building size, parking and drive-through stacking, access, utilities, zoning), a short list with the trade-offs written down, and site visits with your team.
- Site acquisition — letter of intent, contract, deposits and contingencies tied to site-plan approval and permits, negotiated with the seller and your attorney through closing.
- Build-to-suit structuring — the two ownership paths, priced side by side: owner-build, where the user buys the land and hires the design and construction team; or a turnkey purchase, where a developer controls the site, builds to the user’s approved plans and sells the completed building to the user under a forward purchase agreement.
- Developer representation — for a developer with a user in hand: sourcing and contracting the site, and the business terms of the forward sale to the user.
- Existing buildings — when a standing building fits the operation better than new construction, the same search and acquisition process applies. See buyer representation.
How we work
- Program Building size and layout, site area, parking and stacking, dock and truck access, signage and hours, the trade area or labor shed, the budget, and the ownership structure you prefer. If the franchisor publishes site criteria, they go in here.
- Search Listed and off-market sites, screened for zoning, permitted uses, geometry, frontage, access and utilities before anyone spends money on engineering. You get a short list, not a stack of flyers.
- Site control A letter of intent, then a contract with an inspection period long enough for site-plan approval and permits, with deposits at risk only once the approvals are in hand.
- Structure Owner-build or turnkey purchase. If a developer builds, the forward purchase agreement: price, plan approval, change orders, completion milestones and closing conditions, negotiated with your attorney.
- Due diligence to closing Survey, environmental, geotechnical, title, traffic, utility capacity letters, and the site-plan and permit approvals, coordinated on one schedule through closing.
What we analyze
- Zoning, permitted and conditional uses, and overlay districts
- Site geometry against the footprint, parking ratio and stacking
- Frontage, access, median openings, turn lanes and traffic counts
- Utility capacity, connection and impact fees, and offsite extensions
- Wetlands, floodplain, soils and fill
- Recorded easements, restrictions and reciprocal-access agreements
- Comparable land sales per square foot and per acre
- The approval path: site plan, permits, concurrency and schedule
Corridors and interchanges
A build-to-suit site is chosen for how customers, patients or trucks will reach it, and in Volusia County the interstate access is changing. Three of the projects we check a site against:
Central Florida context
Verified public sources, with dates. Market data is believed reliable but not guaranteed and is provided for general information only.
- A new I-95 interchange at Pioneer Trail has been under construction since summer 2025, with completion expected in early 2028. Source: FDOT, project 436292-1, updated June 25, 2026
- The I-95 / LPGA Blvd interchange is in design: a rebuilt Exit 265, 6.2 miles of LPGA widening and a new Tomoka River bridge, at an estimated $307 million, with right-of-way acquisition starting summer 2027. Source: FDOT, project 448456-1, updated July 24, 2026
- Ormond Crossings, which broke ground January 12, 2026, plans a commerce park of about 500 acres east of I-95 within about 2.5 million SF of retail, office, light industrial and warehouse space. Source: Ormond Beach Observer, January 12, 2026
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a build-to-suit and buying an existing building?
An existing building can usually be occupied sooner, and its cost is known at contract. A build-to-suit takes the time to entitle, permit and build, and in exchange the layout, the site and the building systems are what the operation needs rather than what a previous owner left behind. We do both: when a standing building fits, see buyer representation.
Do we have to own the building?
In the work we do, yes. Our practice is sales and acquisitions: we represent users who will own their site and building, and developers who sell finished buildings to those users. If the structure you have in mind does not end in ownership, we will say so in the first conversation.
How does a turnkey purchase from a developer work?
Under a forward purchase agreement, the developer controls the site, obtains the approvals and builds to plans the user has approved. The user contracts up front to buy the finished building at an agreed price on completion. The agreement covers deposits, plan approval, change orders, completion milestones and a closing tied to the certificate of occupancy. Your attorney drafts it; we negotiate the business terms and keep the site work on schedule.
Can a franchisee use this?
Yes. Most franchise systems publish site criteria — lot size, frontage, traffic counts, nearby retailers — and require the franchisor to approve the site. We work from those criteria, and the franchisor’s approval becomes a contract contingency so the deposit is not at risk before the site is accepted.
How long does site selection take?
It depends on the site and the approvals it needs. A pad-ready outparcel with utilities in place and a use permitted by right moves fastest. A site that needs a rezoning, a conditional-use approval or an offsite utility extension adds the time those approvals take, and the contract should give you that time before your deposit goes hard. We set the schedule with your team at the program stage rather than promising a number up front.
We are buying through a 1031 exchange. Does that change anything?
Construction inside a tax-deferred exchange has its own rules, and the 45-day and 180-day deadlines do not pause for permits. Talk to your qualified intermediary and your CPA before you sign a contract, and read our 1031 exchange page. We are not a qualified intermediary and we do not give tax or legal advice.