I'm thinking of developing On a large commercial Lot hi have on a busy suburban Road. I would like to build a office/retail Structure on the ground level and build a Two bedroom two bath Apartment on the second floor over the ground floor mentioned. I'm wondering if Anybody here on The forum here Has ever developed In this kind of the commercial structure?

The suburban busy road Has other typical kind of businesses Located here and there Along this very road, with a few mature older homes of average price and some vacant land. I would say the road in this general area is already about 85% developed. This is also the general Development In the area surrounding This busy road. So there is enough development to support I believe this kind of the structure. There is not any office/commercial buildings in the area say within Nine Blocks to 1 mile distance.

You might consider getting in touch with your local small business development center (most states have them) and ask them if they can do a survey of the area to determine types of businesses needed. Once you get that you might want to consider if your proposed building can accommodate this type business.

The apartment over a business concept has been around a long time.

You'll need to talk to planning and zoning for local requirements for everything, especially parking.

You say you are new at this. Lenders might be reluctant to loan to someone without a proven track record doing this. You might consider an experienced partner.

You might also consider buying an existing building as there may be some available at bargain prices due to current things going on. Sometimes it's easier to buy than to build. Just watch out if you buy an older building as the cost of retrofitting and current ADA code compliance can be very high.

I'd also consider the potential results of the coming election. Will there be changes in business regulations? Taxes? Is there a potential for riots and destruction of your building? What if we have more rounds of the virus? Will any potential business be able to withstand a loss of revenue if this happens? Will this be a recession proof business? Will your building be able to make payments if the business is impacted by any of these things?

It might be easier, especially for anyone with limited experience, to buy into a stock or REIT that has many holdings to reduce risk.(Dollar General comes to mind as an example).

In the older parts of my town, Los Angeles, we call this a mixed use property. Two storefronts on the first floor. Two apartments on the second floor and two units on the third floor.

Didn't GKARL have some properties like this? I can't remember if he ended up selling all of it, or just some of it?

If I was going to develop it, I'd check my zoning ordinances first, to see what was allowed. Then I'd check my parking ordinances and see how many spaces of parking are required per 1000 sf of office space, or how many parking spaces are required per unit or per bedroom.

I have one with two small offices on the ground floor, a small store front and an apartment on the second floor.

It cash flows alright, but then again I am in a low cost area that is stuck in time.

It takes us an hour and half to watch 60 minutes around here

You might visit your city's website and see if they have their Code of Ordinances posted online. I've also found the binders kept in the City Library reference section, as well as going to visit City Hall and asking for pertinent ordinances regarding x, y, and z. That last one is my least favorite, because I don't like telling people what I'm looking for, in case they want to ask why. ;)

One of my favorite sections is if they have a "Schedule of Uses" laid out in tabular form. So, for example, if I want to see if I can have a vet's office in a particular zoning, I can know that it's acceptable for B-2 and L-1 zoning, but can't go into B-1 or B-3 zoning. Same thing for Pet Grooming, Secondhand Stores, Self-Service Washaterias, Pool Halls, and A/C Sales & Service--- they're allowed in some commercial/business/industrial zonings, but not all zonings. And sometimes, they're allowed in certain zonings as long as you get a Special Use permit.

Back to parking, in my town, I need 1 off-street parking space for each sfh. If I get into duplex/triplex/quadplex territory, I need 1.5 parking spaces per dwelling or 1 parking space per bedroom, whichever is greater.

Something in the Highway Business district will require not just 1 parking space for every 75 square feet of gross floor area (or 1 parking space for every 2 members if it's a club), but the spaces need to be striped. But at the same time, you can't have more than 60% of your street frontage be used for driveways, and you can't have more than 2 points of ingress/egress from the parking lot into adjacent streets.

But if you're a bank or a professional office, you need 3 parking spaces, plus 1 additional parking space for each 200 sf of floor area over the initial 500 sf.

8x6

Where I am making money on mine, I also understand that I am a fish swimming up stream.

Back in the day when you drove into a small town and walked around the town and visited the store fronts, that is when that layout thrived. Now you drive to dollar general and then order it from amazon.