---
id: "prereq-development-lifecycle"
type: "prereq"
source_timestamps: ["00:22:00", "00:26:30"]
tags: ["construction", "zoning"]
related: ["framework-pre-construction-phases", "concept-entitlement-value"]
reason: "Necessary to grasp why 'entitling' land creates value and why GMP contracts cannot be signed early in the process."
sources: ["jayroberts"]
sourceVaultSlug: "jay-roberts-florida-condo-development-2026Jun25"
originDay: 4
---
# Basic Development Lifecycle

## Prerequisite: Basic Development Lifecycle

**Why it matters:** Necessary to grasp why "entitling" land creates value and why GMP contracts cannot be signed early in the process.

### Required Understanding

The speakers assume a basic understanding of how a building goes from idea to reality, specifically:

1. **Zoning / Entitlements** — getting legal permission to build a specific kind of structure at a specific density. This is **regulatory work**, not construction work. Value is captured in [[concept-entitlement-value]] and the action [[action-entitle-and-flip]].

2. **Pre-construction phases** — see the four-step lifecycle in [[framework-pre-construction-phases]]: Conceptual → Schematics → Construction Drawings → GMP Bidding.

3. **Construction** — actual physical building, contracted under a [[concept-gmp-contract]].

### Critical Insight

The two are sequential and largely non-overlapping. You cannot pour concrete without entitlements; you cannot get a reliable GMP without construction drawings; you cannot get construction drawings without finalized schematic intent. Skipping steps inflates contingency or guarantees cost overruns.