Sports- and entertainment-anchored mixed-use districts are among the most exciting – and challenging – projects in real estate. When they work, they transform communities, lift values, and create year-round activation. But when early assumptions are soft, schedules slip, costs climb, and investors can lose confidence. That’s why shrewd and thorough predevelopment planning is so critically important.

Because these districts blend public and private financing, civic interests, large-scale infrastructure, and timelines tied to leagues and seasons, predevelopment due diligence is not just a box to check – it’s the foundation of the capital story. Done right, it converts uncertainty into bankable assumptions and unlocks funding.

In this piece, McCullers Group Director of Predevelopment Planning Cortland McCullers outlines the essentials when it comes to determining your project’s feasibility.

Team Building

Predevelopment is the highest-risk phase of any project, so getting the team and the governance right up front is crucial. This is the stage where the deal gets structured, so you’ll need top people guiding the analysis. If you want to truly understand the project’s feasibility, you need a development advisor with the skill, experience, time, and resources to give you that answer.

Concept & Site Planning

Not every parcel of land is suited for projects like these. That’s why early test-fits and program studies should run in parallel with civil diligence. That includes geotech, soils, groundwater, utilities, traffic, grading, floodplain, and access. The goal is simple: quantify risks and mitigation costs before design runs ahead of reality. Expect concept plans to evolve. At this stage they are tools for planning and financing – not final designs – that tie physical options to schedule and cost.

Market & Economic Impact Studies

Every stadium-anchored mixed-use district depends on demand that extends well beyond event days. A credible market analysis will inform demand for ticket sales, hotel keys, residential unit mix, retail GLA, and office to show what is supportable. A complementary economic impact study clarifies public benefits – jobs, taxes, tourism, etc. – so the entitlements and public-funding conversations rest on facts, not hype. Together they’re an analysis that separates economics from excitement, and a key indicator of feasibility (and, likely, funding).

Public & Government Relations

No stadium-anchored district exists in a vacuum. Politics and public opinion can play a significant role in whether a project moves forward. An effective public-affairs plan – briefings, community benefits narrative, and a clear entitlements path – builds trust and reduces surprises. At the same time, government relations are vital when it comes to generating project support and approvals and should focus on aligning infrastructure scope, approvals, and timing with the project’s critical path rather than the tempting approach of chasing headlines.

Legal Review

There will always be I’s to dot and T’s to cross, so you’ll need legal counsel on several fronts. Beyond forming the right legal entities, the legal team will need to conduct a rigorous review of title, easements, use restrictions, existing agreements, etc., that could limit operations or phasing. You’ll need to align ground-lease or land purchase economics with the pro forma early (rent, escalations, public-improvements credits, and other terms) to drive feasibility.

Capital & Funding Readiness

Diligence is the on-ramp to capital. A cohesive sources and uses schedule, realistic capital stack, and sensitivity analyses are what lenders and investors underwrite, not renderings. The objective of predevelopment is a financeable package: program and test-fits, cost plan, schedule, entitlements roadmap, public-improvement scope, and term sheets that reflect risk allocation.

It may not seem like a lot when you put it into categories, but the predevelopment process is critical to project success and takes time and diligence. Getting the site under control, ground lease complete, site work done, and budgets set all come (or should come) before you ever start producing detailed design sets. And you’ll need to have that process about 90 percent complete before you get to permitting approvals. In short, prepare to be patient.

Time & Cost Reality

Proper predevelopment takes time and money. Depending on location and site complexity, you should expect to spend between $500,000-$1,000,000+ over the course of the pre-development process to reach a bankable concept. That budget shouldn’t be frightening – it’s the cost of doing business in this space and avoids much more costly schedule delays and budget overruns.

The Bottom Line

Beautiful renderings raise eyebrows; due diligence raises capital. Teams that insist on rigorous feasibility, transparent data, and experienced advice dramatically improve their odds of funding – and of delivering a project that opens on time and performs. It’s a process that’s both qualitative and iterative. So allocate a healthy-enough budget, spend it wisely, and don’t cut corners. And if you want to make sure you do all three, work with a trusted, experienced development advisor like McCullers Group.