Gaining community support for a new development
I have an idea for a commercial real estate development in my city, but I am seriously underfunded and have never done anything like this before.  This development would ideally contain smaller "satellite" locations for larger retailers etc., and affordable physical locations for smaller local businesses in my downtown area, which is seriously lacking in any type of retail space.  Have been contemplating starting a website to gauge community interest for the project, in hopes of gaining a following I can use in my pitch to developers and possible investors.  Is this a good idea, and how would one go about doing so without giving away too much detail on the project.  If this is a terrible plan is there any other option for trying to build a following? 
[{"id": "dk62uxc", "text": "This is the type of endeavor that You, specifically YOU cannot do. Why can YOU not tackle a project like this? YOU lack the following: experience, capital, knowledge of tenant needs/wants, knowledge of the market to facilitate a need, knowledge of construction, commercial real estate finance, spreads, partnerships etc. Just because YOU think it will work, it most likely wont. Even if the idea works, YOU can't put it all together to make it successful because of what I listed above. YOU are probably thinking of telling me to go fuck myself, which is fine. However, I have literally just saved YOU tons of time, effort and wasted heartbeats. If you wanna take it step further, get in the mix and go work for a developer. ", "replies": [{"id": "dk65k99", "text": "Thank YOU for YOUR opinion.  I know I don't have any of the things YOU have listed and that this will more than likely never come to fruition.  Having said that I have to give it a shot, and for the cost of $20 domain name and a simple website, think it'd be worth gauging people's interest.  Even if the idea dies with that I can still be happy with the effort.\n\nAlso what's YOUR background on the subject?  Would like to get into commercial real estate investing, and you seem to think you know a lot about the subject.  ", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dk6biwv", "text": "What exactly is your value proposition here? Or your goal? Just an idea for a master planned development? Depending on your jurisdiction, you can go to planning board meetings / public hearings / outreach meetings and share your ideas. \n\nBut you're not really a stakeholder here - if a developer were to hypothetically buy all this land and develop it, why would they involve you in the process? If you're thinking through all this in your free time, maybe you should pursue development as a career.", "replies": [{"id": "dk6do0z", "text": "Ideally I'd like to profit from the idea, just not sure how that would work...what with me having no experience in commercial real estate and not nearly enough capitol to fund it myself.  Thought if I could get enough momentum and talk going behind it maybe I could use that (along with some market research) in a pitch for an A&amp;D loan, or possibly sell the idea to typical developer.  How feasible would a situation like that be, would there be anything stopping someone from stealing my idea?\n\nIt's ironic that you should mention pursuing this as a career option, actually returning to school in 2018 to study finance.  Hadn't really considered it but may take a few classes concerning real estate.", "replies": [{"id": "dk6mhu3", "text": "The only way you could realistically profit from this idea is to go work for a developer and earn a paycheck while you learn. ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "dky1nfh", "text": "Unless you are a stakeholder in the land there is no way for you to profit from your idea, and there is nothing stopping someone from ripping off 100% of your idea. ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dk6r08p", "text": "It's kind of like having an idea for an app. Not worth anything unless you can code and bring it to fruition. The cheapest way to get involved in commercial development at that scale would be to get the property under contract contingent on approvals &amp; financing, then go hire an architect and try to get it approved. This costs $50-70k. You'd need an attorney, architect, engineer, planner, and maybe a traffic consultant. You'd probably still fail without any experience. If you didn't fail, you'd need to find a bank willing to lend and a partner to put up the 25% a bank won't lend you and teach you what you're doing. I am not suggesting any of this, in fact it's a very bad idea for someone with your skill set.  ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dkcttxk", "text": "Sounds like a waste of time if you don't have any control of any of the properties. Buy up some options on the buildings and try to make something happen or find something more productive to do.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dkhigfz", "text": "http://www.buildingbok.com/\n\nThis project has come to fruition. \n\nI can't find the original story, but if I recall correctly - it started as a website and rooftop bar pop-up, gaining traction through instagram.\n\nI believe the person responsible did have some experience in real estate on the architecture and planning end, and more importantly held the option on the building.\n\nIf you can control the land, you can run around and \"develop\" your concept the best way you know how, at the cost of your time and money. Eventually, you will need partners.\n\nAt the very least, read this and you can come to your own conclusions about your best path forward:\nhttps://www.amazon.com/Professional-Real-Estate-Development-Business/dp/0874201632 \n\nGood luck!", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]