The Developer's Toolkit is framework for infill land development in San Diego. We believe in working backwards, reverse engineering with best practices, tools and templates as guides for acquisitions, predevelopment and design, permitting, and developing your go to market strategy. 
 

Active Case Studies

64 Forty (6440 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA 92115, video above) is a 324 unit attainable rent community in the College Area near San Diego State University. Delivered in 2025 and actively leasing and stabilizing as one of San Diego's most affordable market, rate/mixed income offerings in the City. Visit the website to learn more: https://live64forty.com/.

3167 Market (3167 Market St, San Diego, CA 92102, first video below) is a 34 unit small-scale infill execution that is stabilized. The community was built in 2023 in less than a year just east and south of Downtown San Diego and Balboa Park. Visit the website for more info: https://www.3167market.com/.

2911 Adams (2911 Adams, San Diego, CA 92116, second video below) is a 72 unit mid-rise infill execution that is stabilized. Built in 2024 in North Park/Normal Heights. Visit the website for more info: https://www.2911Adams.com/.

These two flagship developments in partnership with Impact Housing delivered nearly 450 bedrooms of attainable rental housing to San Diego addressing the housing epidemic. These developments are models of large and small volumetric modular deliveries of efficient design, costs and rents per unit and speed unmatched in the industry.

 
 

 

Casa Verde is located in the Historic Main Street district at 3066 North Park Way, San Diego, CA and was completed in 2023 and stabilized in 2024. It towers over 380 feet above sea level, one of San Diego tallest vantage points in the City, 7 stories, 94 studio and 1 bedroom and penthouse residences. Ground floor anchor is the Finca Restaurant, parking and a bike facility. Adjacency to the Target grocery store, numerous fitness/yoga studios, eateries and coffee shops and surrounded by nightlife hotspots like Part Time Lover, Seven Grand and North Park Beer Co makes this the ideal home for young professionals, entrepreneurs and a community landmark location. Visit the website for more info: https://www.casaverdesd.com/.

 

Work With Us

  • Offering coaching and advisory services in volumetric modular and traditional construction for over a decade in San Diego. 
  • Guide for land acquisitions, assemblages, entitlements, building your team and raising capital.
  • We know what it takes to manage risks in real estate negotiations, contracts, due diligence, design/prototyping, workflow automation and process mapping.
  • We are on the leading edge of today's Tech/AI colliding with real assets, GIS data/mapping tools you need for the market edge. 

Our Process

 

MODULE 1

Defining Your Project Site and Market

Taking time to define your site and market is the first step before getting into the details. You need to know why you want to be in this location, the flow of the location, product and market cycles, microeconomics, and trends to project 3-5 years into the future and how the patterns of the neighborhood. In this lesson, you'll learn:

  • Best practices for using open source GIS mapping tools available to begin you story of the site and primary and secondary markets
  • Regional and City planning tools to visualize current and planned land uses to guide you toward the path of progress and emerging areas
  • Overlays and the necessary shape files needed to narrow into the various zoning and programs that will work best to create certain projects and product types

You’ll finish this module with the ability to tell the story, set up you first walking or driving tour of the market and site and begin testing your thesis

MODULE 2

Real Estate and Stakeholder Research

With your project site and market defined, the next step is performing due diligence and researching all the stakeholders involved in a property or assemblage from owners, brokers/agents and tenants. In this lesson, you’ll learn:

  • Proprietary title and GIS mapping software for pulling property profile, preliminary title reports, farming owner data and more!
  • Research tools to dive deeper into entities/businesses, a persons address and phone history and their relatives, and other stakeholders who influence decision making
  • How to harness the power of LinkedIn Connections and social media to understand the community around your potential site and development.

You’ll finish this module with learning to trust, but verifying facts with corroborating evidence. You will begin to identify the critical path items based on your findings and lining up your dominos to knock down for development....

MODULE 3

Beyond The Dirt

An teaching analogy we use is that the surface of the site and the are site improvements just the tip of the iceberg and you need to understand the glacier of unknowns beneath the surface. In this lesson, you'll learn:

  • Tools provided for analyzing the history of the site and neighborhood, reviewing overlays and data points on the site's topography, environmental contamination (brown field sites), geology/earthquake, fire and more
  • Learn best practices of site visits/verification of the site lines/structures, wet/dry utility locations and sizing, and contemplating  potential off-site improvements needed
  • Navigating historic significance, community planning and research databases, and an intro into the City staff review process for a project

You’ll finish this module with your checklist completed for how viable site is and  narrowing in on your critical path items...and it is okay to fail fast and start over with a new site or refining vision with the new knowledge gained. 

MODULE 4

Navigating the Risks and your Permitting Pathways

Entitlements in real estate development is the number one risk to mitigate to save time and money processing a project. Knowing your permitting pathways can be complex beyond belief and not worth the energy unless you get grounded in the basics. In this module, you’ll learn:

  • How zoning, overlays and code analysis will help guide you to which sites and neighborhoods are more ready for development than others
  • How to navigate a sites' multiple parcels, lots, split zoning and overlays, potential assemblage benefits and incentives/programs to be leveraged to increase the yield and residual land value 
  • Intro to land use best practices and mitigating the risks by knowing the benefits of the development and how to leverage your City staff and the community to determine the best permitting pathways

You’ll finish this module with high level strategies and may begin the road mapping of the milestones/schedule for permitting.

MODULE 5

Creating Your Project Vision

Our template and learning process will help you create a white paper articulating your vision and thesis, over time with practice, writing your business plan will become second nature for you. In this module, you’ll learn:

  • Learn to create your development program approach and recommendations...beginning of a design brief and project scope
  • Take action to summarize the risks and the critical path items and your diligence plan of solution finding and learn how you can obtain early feedback from experts
  • Learn to narrow your focus based on site availability, willingness for assemblage opportunities and highest and best pathways to a permit

You’ll finish this module with your vision and ready to test your elevator pitch with stakeholders and potential strategic partners and capital providers.

Meet the Master Mind

Danny Fitzgerald has over 20 years of experience building communities in commercial real estate as a finder, founder, and facilitator. His passion for innovation in rental housing, hospitality, and food & beverage converges with his expertise in real estate technology and manufacturing, shaping the next generation of development solutions.


Danny founded Beyond-Development.org in 2023 to provide advisory, coaching, and real estate services specializing in apartment investing and land development. Leveraging his work with some of the nation’s largest brands, he helps emerging entrepreneurs, investors, brokers, and the AEC industry innovate and elevate the San Diego market. His offerings include in-depth market research, development case studies, GIS data and story mapping, as well as analytical workflows and templates. Danny’s approach is rooted in relationships first—deals second—and in “working backward” from a clear vision to create lasting value.


Deeply committed to brand integrity, placemaking, and community building, Danny actively participates in forums and committees on urban planning, design, sustainability, and binational initiatives across the Western U.S. He has collaborated with award-winning teams on urban plans, developments, and neighborhoods recognized internationally. With more than $1 billion in real estate capitalizations as a principal—beyond brokerage and advisory roles—Danny brings unmatched experience in acquisitions, dispositions, debt/equity placement, and valuations. His foundation of thousands of attainable and mixed-income housing units, combined with numerous accolades in placemaking, has positioned him as a trusted leader in the industry.


Currently, Danny is expanding a 1,000-unit pipeline through advisory, development, and owner’s rep services, while exploring partnerships, ground-up innovation, adaptive reuse, and rescue capital opportunities. He welcomes inquiries about active capital raises and joint ventures aligned with his vision for 2030.

Danny travels between Southern California for work and is home base is in Boulder County, Colorado. Collaborating with his life partner Nicole Macey, together they are commitment to transformation and pursuit of their creative passions real estate ventures and personal endeavors. They enjoy raising their 3 children, travelling and their time in nature (beaches, mountains and lakes throughout the world). 

Testimonials

"Highly recommend Danny to any young entrepreneur in the real estate/development game, great mentor and even better dude! Danny has been an asset for building our families business and assets for almost 20 years"
 

-Jon and Chase Mangini, URBN Coal Fired Pizza and BASIC

"I always knew Danny had what it takes to succeed and excel in real estate development, but he had to learn that it's a lot like baseball. You don't always have to hit homeruns to win the game, just keep moving the base runners with singles and doubles."
- Jeffery C. Rasak, Sterling Development Corp.
"Danny can be best described as San Diego's Real Estate Savant. His work in innovation, partnerships and community building keeps him ahead of the crowd and on the leading edge."
- Jack Illes, Smart City Labs

Meet the Creatives

www.whollycreation.com