GIS Fuels Economic Growth with Data and Insights to Empower Development Teams

Land development teams are under constant pressure to identify viable sites, minimize risk, and accelerate project timelines. The wrong choice, in this competitive landscape, can lead to costly delays and lost opportunities. Success requires innovative tools that provide accurate, comprehensive insights from the very beginning of the site selection process. 

GIS technology lets land development teams make data-driven decisions with confidence. Powerful land development software offers a one-stop shop for critical insights and collaborative resources. In addition, specific GIS features — like those offered by Latapult — can help with more complex tasks and due diligence, such as defining buildable areas, analyzing competitor activity, and shaping narratives that get stakeholders’ attention. These capabilities let users add more depth and detail to projects, quickly increasing profit potential and the odds of success.

Define buildable area with unmatched precision

Relying on gross acreage for a land evaluation and site assessment can be misleading. A site’s true potential is based on net usable area, which is often smaller than gross measurements.  GIS innovations like Latapult’s Buildable Area Tool enable land developers to calculate,  analyze, and leverage this crucial metric. It instantly accounts for constraints that impact usability, such as:

• Environmental factors: FEMA flood zones, elevation changes, and NRCS soils data can significantly reduce the amount of land available for construction.
• Regulatory limitations: Setbacks, easements, and buffers must be factored in to determine the true development footprint.

Visualizing a site’s development potential is valuable, but the core benefits of using GIS platforms in land development are even more important. By identifying these limitations early, developers reduce due diligence risk, prevent costly revisions, and maintain stakeholder satisfaction throughout the project lifecycle.

Gain a competitive edge with market insights

Strategic land development mandates a deep understanding of where and how competitors are building. Without these insights, developers risk entering an oversaturated market, pricing and timing errors, weak negotiating power, and loss of stakeholder confidence. 

GIS platforms with exclusive data layers provide a strategic advantage with clear views of nearby projects. With convenient features like Latapult’s Builder Developments and Subdivisions layers, users can:

• Move from high-level point data to detailed development polygons to easily identify market gaps and evaluate land acquisition prospects
• Filter projects by metrics like acreage to gauge the scale and nature of competitor activity
• Make informed decisions that differentiate their projects from the competition

Combining tools, like Latapult’s Points of Interest and Drive-Time Buffers, can further strengthen value propositions by analyzing a site’s proximity to amenities like schools, shopping options and grocery stores. When land developers quickly eliminate less viable options, they can focus resources and energy on projects that promise stronger returns.

Streamline collaboration across teams and industries

Aligning internal teams, external stakeholders, and investors during the due diligence process is often a challenge. Participants may be geographically spaced out and working on different operating systems, leading to communication breakdowns.

GIS platforms act as a central hub for coordination and synchronized workflows, enabling teams to conveniently store and exchange information. Latapult puts land development teams on the same page with collaborative features such as:

• Pins: Serving as an interactive hub for organizing site status updates, project locations, and field notes, Pins help teams capture, track, and share findings and data to provide everyone with the latest information.
• Bookmarks: This feature makes it easy to organize, save, and share collections of maps for quick reference. Teams can create Shared Bookmark Folders for internal coordination and use the feature’s external component for passing information to partners, investors or other stakeholders – even if they aren’t Latapult users.

Enhance project narratives for faster approvals

Building a strong, data-driven visual narrative is a fast and effective way to build investor confidence and accelerate project approvals. GIS tools make it easy for developers to demonstrate they’ve done their homework, helping to get deals done faster. 

With Latapult’s platform, teams can access more than 250 dynamic data layers to create professional, investor-ready maps and reports. Custom map styling and export features streamline the creation of polished, branded visuals that strengthen investor presentations and project proposals. By clearly showing a site’s proximity to valuable amenities and its position within the competitive landscape, developers can build a powerful case for their project’s viability.

Conducting comprehensive research in these areas gives stakeholders a clear, data-backed view of a location’s qualifications and ensures all parties have the insights needed to make confident, informed decisions.

Prepare for a better way to plan, prepare, and execute development projects

Success in land development begins with finding sites that meet a project’s specific criteria, which requires comprehensive, reliable data. With the right land development software, teams can avoid costly pitfalls, streamline project workflows, and strengthen client relationships.

Teams across the country trust Latapult’s platform to deliver results. Our partners report that their land research is up to 50 times faster, enabling teams to justify, approve, and negotiate deals with speed and confidence. On average, they save over $1,000 per user each month. This is the power of having access to over $1 million in GIS data, which supports strong environmental, demographic, geospatial, and topographic insights. 

Turn opportunity into action and position your projects to win with valuable insights that ensure you stand out. It’s time to rise above the competition. Ready to see how better data transforms your land development workflows? Schedule a demo to explore Latapult’s platform today.