Finding land for ground-up development has always been a local, relationship-driven, somewhat chaotic process. Work the network. Drive corridors. Call brokers who know the owners who might be willing to sell. Piece together zoning maps, parcel data, and ownership records from a dozen different sources that were never designed to talk to each other.
That process isn't going away, but it's no longer the only path. A new generation of AI-powered tools is making it possible to run bulk parcel searches in minutes, screen sites digitally before ever visiting them, and surface owner contact information — including entities buried in LLC filings — at a scale that simply wasn't realistic two years ago.
The developers using these tools aren't replacing boots-on-the-ground sourcing. They're compressing the front end of the funnel dramatically, which means more time spent on real opportunities and less time chasing dead ends.
The toolset is still fragmented and evolving fast. Platforms like Pillar, Acres, LandPortal, and Land iD each do different things well, and most developers we talk to are either unaware of what's out there or unsure how to integrate them into their existing workflow. The gap between what the tools can do and how widely they're actually being used is narrowing, and the developers who figure it out first have a real sourcing advantage.
Dylan Goren — who wrote some of our most-read pieces on land discovery and site selection last year — is leading a live, two-hour workshop on exactly this: how ground-up developers are using AI and modern software to find better sites, faster.
This is a practical walkthrough, not a conceptual overview. Dylan will demo real tools and walk through real workflows covering:
Bulk parcel searches by asset class and market — a multifamily developer filtering by zoning and rents needs a different setup than a homebuilder looking for raw acreage in a growth corridor
Digital site evaluation — zoning, lot dimensions, flood zones, utilities, comps, and surrounding uses, before ever visiting a site
Finding and contacting property owners — including the tools developers are using to identify ownership through LLC structures and make that first outreach
Building site reports — pulling together demographic profiles, traffic counts, market trends, and competitive supply data using tools that do the heavy lifting
Choosing the right tools for your shop — what each platform does well, where they overlap, and how to decide what's worth paying for based on deal flow and asset type
Who it's for: Ground-up developers, land brokers, acquisition teams, site selection consultants, and homebuilders working across multifamily, BTR, industrial, retail, data centers, and specialty assets.
No technical background required. If you're familiar with the basics of evaluating a ground-up deal, this session will deliver.
Format: Live on Zoom, March 19 —12:00–2:00 pm ET. Recorded and shared with all registered participants via our Circle community, along with slides and a resource guide with vendor recommendations.
Brad is the founder and editor of Thesis Driven (www.thesisdriven.com), a publication covering innovation in the built world. Over the past decade he has co-founded General Assembly and Common which generated a combined $500M+ in enterprise value.
