Development Strategies for Unconventional Properties
Latitude 98 acquires, develops, rehabilitates, and repositions special-use real estate throughout Orlando, Central Florida, and selected markets across Florida.
These properties often require more than a standard construction or renovation plan. They may involve specialized operations, unusual zoning, adaptive reuse, public approvals, environmental considerations, purpose-built infrastructure, or a narrow group of potential users.
Our Special-Use Real Estate division brings together property evaluation, development planning, entitlement coordination, design, construction oversight, and long-term ownership strategy to address opportunities that do not fit within traditional real estate categories.
What Is Special-Use Real Estate?
Special-use real estate is designed, improved, or operated for a specific purpose that may limit its compatibility with conventional uses.
These properties may have:
- Specialized buildings
- Unique infrastructure
- Limited alternative uses
- Operational restrictions
- Complex zoning
- Environmental requirements
- Public or institutional ownership
- Specialized tenants
- Significant conversion costs
- Unusual financing needs
- Licensing or regulatory requirements
- Long-term operating agreements
A successful strategy must consider both the physical property and the business, organisation, or public purpose that will occupy it.
Properties We Evaluate
Latitude 98 evaluates a broad range of special-use opportunities, including:
- Aviation properties
- Airports and airparks
- Aircraft hangars
- Maintenance facilities
- Event venues
- Clubhouses
- RV parks
- Campgrounds
- Hospitality properties
- Former hotels and motels
- Marinas
- Recreational properties
- Religious and institutional properties
- Educational facilities
- Community centers
- Healthcare-related real estate
- Supportive housing facilities
- Veteran housing
- Senior housing
- Food and entertainment destinations
- Mixed-use destination properties
- Former public buildings
- Adaptive-reuse properties
- Other unconventional real estate
Latitude 98 only pursues projects where the intended use, partnership structure, financing, operational plan, and regulatory path are clearly defined.
Aviation and Airport Properties
Aviation real estate is one of Latitude 98’s primary special-use development focuses.
We evaluate:
- Private airports
- Public-use airport improvements
- Aircraft hangars
- Hangar condominiums
- FBO facilities
- Aircraft maintenance buildings
- Flight-school facilities
- Aviation commercial space
- Airport hospitality
- Pilot clubhouses
- Fuel facilities
- Aviation communities
- Airport acquisitions and repositioning
- Underused airport land
These projects require careful coordination of aviation access, airport operating rights, ground leases, taxiways, aircraft circulation, fire protection, environmental conditions, and long-term airport compatibility.
Event and Gathering Properties
Latitude 98 evaluates development and repositioning opportunities involving properties intended for gatherings, events, entertainment, and community use.
Potential projects may include:
- Event venues
- Wedding venues
- Conference facilities
- Clubhouses
- Private membership facilities
- Community halls
- Outdoor event spaces
- Aviation event venues
- Food and entertainment destinations
- Corporate retreat properties
Development considerations may include:
- Occupancy
- Parking
- Traffic
- Noise
- Restrooms
- Food service
- Fire protection
- Accessibility
- Outdoor-use approvals
- Event hours
- Security
- Storm planning
- Neighbor compatibility
A successful event property requires a realistic operating plan in addition to a compelling design.
RV Parks and Campgrounds
RV parks and campgrounds may support tourism, workforce lodging, aviation destinations, recreational properties, and longer-term income strategies.
Latitude 98 evaluates opportunities involving:
- Traditional RV parks
- Resort-style RV communities
- Small campgrounds
- Aviation campgrounds
- Glamping concepts
- Cabin communities
- Recreational vehicle storage
- Clubhouse and amenity buildings
- Long-term and short-term sites
- Mixed lodging concepts
Project planning may include:
- Site layout
- Road and vehicle circulation
- Utility connections
- Water and wastewater
- Drainage
- Fire access
- Landscaping
- Restrooms and showers
- Laundry facilities
- Clubhouses
- Pools and recreation
- Reservation systems
- Management facilities
The feasibility of an RV park or campground depends heavily on zoning, utilities, environmental conditions, operating restrictions, and local market demand.
Hospitality and Lodging Properties
Latitude 98 evaluates hospitality opportunities that may benefit from renovation, repositioning, adaptive reuse, or integration into a larger development.
Potential properties may include:
- Boutique hotels
- Small inns
- Motels
- Short-term rental communities
- Airport lodging
- Cabin communities
- Extended-stay properties
- Clubhouse lodging
- Destination accommodations
- Existing properties suitable for hospitality conversion
Potential strategies may include:
- Complete rehabilitation
- Rebranding
- Unit redesign
- Amenity improvements
- Operational repositioning
- Conversion to housing
- Conversion to mixed use
- Expansion
- Long-term ownership
- Sale following stabilization
Hospitality projects require close attention to occupancy, management, staffing, licensing, maintenance, marketing, and operating costs.
Adaptive Reuse
Some special-use properties become valuable when converted from an outdated or obsolete purpose to a new use.
Latitude 98 evaluates adaptive-reuse opportunities such as:
- Motel conversion to housing
- Commercial building conversion to residential use
- Former school or institutional reuse
- Warehouse conversion
- Office conversion
- Church or assembly-building reuse
- Aviation building repositioning
- Public building redevelopment
- Clubhouse conversion
- Mixed-use redevelopment
Adaptive reuse may preserve existing structures while reducing demolition, retaining neighborhood character, and creating new economic activity.
Each property must be evaluated for:
- Zoning
- Building code
- Structural condition
- Fire and life safety
- Accessibility
- Parking
- Utilities
- Environmental concerns
- Construction costs
- Operational feasibility
Recreational and Destination Properties
Latitude 98 evaluates properties designed around recreation, tourism, community gathering, or destination use.
Potential concepts may include:
- Outdoor recreation facilities
- Aviation destinations
- Club properties
- Resort amenities
- Food truck courts
- Restaurants and gathering spaces
- Water-oriented properties
- Marina-related real estate
- Sports and activity facilities
- Event lawns
- Pools and community amenities
- Family entertainment concepts
These properties often succeed when multiple compatible uses are combined into one destination.
A development may include hospitality, food, events, recreation, retail, and lodging within a coordinated site plan.
Religious and Institutional Properties
Churches, nonprofit organisations, schools, and institutions may control land or buildings that are underused, ageing, or no longer aligned with current needs.
Latitude 98 evaluates partnership opportunities involving:
- Surplus land
- Vacant institutional buildings
- Church-owned property
- Former schools
- Community facilities
- Administrative buildings
- Residential campuses
- Parking areas
- Mixed-use redevelopment
- Affordable or workforce housing
- Senior or veteran housing
- Community-service facilities
Potential structures may include:
- Direct purchase
- Ground lease
- Joint venture
- Development agreement
- Property exchange
- Phased redevelopment
- Retained ownership with new income-producing uses
The project must respect the organisation’s mission, ownership requirements, governance process, and long-term objectives.
Community and Public-Purpose Properties
Latitude 98 evaluates special-use projects developed in partnership with municipalities, counties, housing authorities, nonprofits, and community organisations.
Potential projects may include:
- Community centers
- Workforce facilities
- Veteran housing
- Supportive housing
- Senior housing
- Accessible housing
- Public gathering spaces
- Neighborhood redevelopment
- Public land reuse
- Training and education facilities
- Emergency or resilience facilities
Where healthcare, counselling, case management, personal care, or social services are required, those services must be delivered by qualified and appropriately licensed organisations.
Latitude 98’s role remains focused on the property, development, construction, financing coordination, and long-term real estate strategy.
Acquisition and Repositioning
Special-use properties can become distressed because they have limited buyers, specialized operating requirements, deferred maintenance, outdated facilities, or unsuccessful business models.
Latitude 98 evaluates properties that may be:
- Vacant
- Underused
- Outdated
- Poorly maintained
- Unfinished
- Code deficient
- Difficult to finance
- Operationally distressed
- Partially occupied
- No longer needed by the owner
- Burdened by an obsolete use
- Suitable for conversion
- Part of an estate or institutional transition
Potential transaction structures may include:
- Direct acquisition
- As-is purchase
- Seller financing
- Ground lease
- Joint venture
- Development agreement
- Phased acquisition
- Build-to-suit arrangement
- Long-term lease
- Management or repositioning partnership
Feasibility and Due Diligence
Special-use properties often require more extensive due diligence than conventional real estate.
Latitude 98 may evaluate:
- Title and ownership
- Existing leases
- Ground leases
- Easements
- Zoning
- Future land use
- Conditional-use requirements
- Licensing requirements
- Environmental conditions
- Wetlands and flood exposure
- Utilities
- Water and wastewater
- Road access
- Parking
- Traffic
- Noise
- Building condition
- Fire and life safety
- Accessibility
- Insurance
- Operating history
- Market demand
- Conversion feasibility
- Construction cost
- Long-term ownership strategy
Specialised consultants may include architects, engineers, land-use attorneys, environmental professionals, aviation consultants, hospitality advisers, and operating partners.
Planning and Entitlements
Special-use development frequently requires discretionary approvals.
Depending on the project, this may include:
- Rezoning
- Conditional-use approval
- Special exceptions
- Variances
- Comprehensive plan amendments
- Development agreements
- Site-plan approval
- Environmental permits
- Utility approvals
- Traffic studies
- Noise studies
- Public hearings
- Airport approvals
- Fire-department review
- Health-department approval
Entitlement outcomes are never guaranteed.
Latitude 98 evaluates approval risk, costs, public process, project timing, and alternative strategies before substantial development work begins.
Design Around the Intended Use
A special-use property should be designed around its actual users and operations.
The design process may consider:
- Customer or resident flow
- Vehicle circulation
- Aircraft access
- Parking
- Loading
- Emergency access
- Security
- Staff work areas
- Storage
- Equipment
- Utilities
- Public spaces
- Private spaces
- Accessibility
- Outdoor uses
- Expansion
- Maintenance
- Storm resilience
A visually attractive project may still fail if it is operationally inefficient. Our objective is to balance appearance, function, cost, safety, and long-term performance.
Construction and Rehabilitation
Special-use projects may involve new construction, rehabilitation, expansion, or complete redevelopment.
Potential work may include:
- Structural repair
- New buildings
- Building additions
- Roof replacement
- Electrical upgrades
- Plumbing
- HVAC and ventilation
- Fire suppression
- Commercial kitchens
- Accessibility improvements
- Parking and roadways
- Drainage
- Utility infrastructure
- Security systems
- Specialised equipment areas
- Tenant improvements
- Landscaping
- Outdoor amenities
Construction must be coordinated around the intended use, applicable codes, permitting, operator requirements, and long-term maintenance.
Operating and Management Strategy
The success of a special-use property often depends on the operator.
Before moving forward, the project team should establish:
- Who will operate the property
- Required experience
- Required licenses
- Staffing
- Marketing
- Reservations or leasing
- Maintenance
- Security
- Insurance
- Compliance
- Financial reporting
- Capital reserves
- Long-term management
Latitude 98 may own or develop the real estate without operating the underlying business.
Where a project requires specialised expertise, we seek qualified operators or partners with relevant industry experience.
Long-Term Ownership and Portfolio Strategy
Special-use real estate may be developed for:
- Long-term rental income
- Business operations
- Public or nonprofit use
- Strategic ownership
- Portfolio diversification
- Sale following stabilisation
- Mixed-use development
- Future redevelopment
- Community benefit
- Destination creation
Latitude 98 evaluates each project based on both its immediate development potential and long-term usefulness.
Because special-use properties may have fewer buyers and tenants, long-term flexibility is an important part of the strategy.
Our Special-Use Development Process
1. Opportunity Identification
We identify properties or concepts that require a specialised real estate and development approach.
2. Property and Use Evaluation
Latitude 98 evaluates the existing property, proposed use, market demand, zoning, physical condition, and operating requirements.
3. Feasibility
We review construction costs, approvals, financing, utilities, infrastructure, revenue potential, expenses, and long-term ownership.
4. Acquisition or Partnership
The project may proceed through acquisition, joint venture, ground lease, development agreement, or another negotiated structure.
5. Planning and Entitlements
We coordinate professional consultants, public agencies, property owners, operators, and community stakeholders.
6. Design
The project is designed around the intended use, users, operations, regulatory requirements, and budget.
7. Construction or Rehabilitation
Qualified contractors complete the approved improvements under the required permits and inspections.
8. Operator or Tenant Coordination
The property is prepared for its owner, tenant, operator, public partner, or nonprofit organisation.
9. Stabilisation
Operations, occupancy, maintenance, and financial performance are moved toward a predictable condition.
10. Sale, Lease or Long-Term Ownership
The completed property may be sold, leased, operated through a partner, or retained within the Latitude 98 portfolio.
Serving Orlando, Central Florida and Selected Florida Markets
Latitude 98’s core real estate service territory includes:
- Orange County
- Seminole County
- Lake County
- Osceola County
- Volusia County
- Polk County
Special-use, aviation, hospitality, and destination opportunities may also be evaluated elsewhere in Florida when the project presents a strong strategic fit.
Partner With Latitude 98
We welcome special-use real estate opportunities from:
- Property owners
- Landowners
- Investors
- Municipalities and counties
- Airport owners
- Nonprofit organizations
- Faith-based institutions
- Hospitality operators
- Recreation operators
- Business owners
- Lenders
- Estate representatives
- Brokers
- Institutional owners
- Joint-venture partners
Whether the opportunity involves an aviation property, event venue, RV park, campground, institutional building, former motel, recreational property, or another specialised asset, Latitude 98 is prepared to evaluate the development and repositioning strategy.
Real Estate Solutions Beyond Conventional Development
Unconventional properties require a developer willing to understand the use, operation, approvals, and long-term strategy—not just the building.
Latitude 98 brings together practical real estate development, creative problem-solving, and hands-on execution to unlock the potential of special-use properties throughout Florida.