A new tool to help developers locate and acquire Texas land is now available, and it could make life a whole lot easier for a lot of people in the housing industry.
Based in Australia, Archistar software advertises “faster, smarter land acquisition.”
Dallas was selected to showcase the product because of the high volume of opportunity, said David Contreras, whose company, The Stamen Group, is heading up the U.S. launch.
“We reached out to [Archistar] about two years ago when they were thinking about rolling it out in L.A. or Virginia,” Contreras said. “I told them that Texas was in the middle of the country, with direct access to the left and the right. And when you look at Dallas County and the volume of people that came in ‘20 and ‘21, the numbers speak for themselves.”
A launch is tentatively planned at 6 p.m. Thursday in Deep Ellum, featuring a live demonstration, Q&A, and reception.
Archistar Software For Land Development
The technology is billed as “an unfair advantage” for developers, culling data in just minutes that might take dedicated specialists weeks to complete.
Selecting a site and conducting the necessary research to see if it fits a developer’s niche is a challenging process, Contreras acknowledged.
“The first challenge is the time spent conducting manual research across multiple platforms and data sources,” Archistar explains on its website. “Archistar has consolidated the most important information and combined [it] with a modern, outcome-focused user experience.”
The platform uses market data and high-resolution aerial imagery. The software displays information about zoning, terrain, environmental risk, and land use regulations by individual parcels.
A two-month free trial is available, and Contreras’ team will provide training and onboarding. He’s already working with the Dallas Equitable Development Initiative cohort on a few different sites, Contreras said.
Individual licenses cost between $395 and $495 a month or The Stamen Group, which is serving as a marketer or reseller, can do a site-specific case study for a flat fee. The program is pre-loaded with data in Dallas, Denton, Collin, and Tarrant counties.
Design Developments Online
In addition to the challenges of making financial calculations and determining what can be built on a site, concept designs must also be generated.
“Architects and designers first need to comb through government documentation to understand what is allowed,” the Archistar site states. “Next, time is spent creating multiple concepts using CAD tools. Archistar streamlines this entire process by providing a generative design engine that respects government rules. This engine generates hundreds of 3D designs and immediately analyzes them for floorplate, dwelling mix, sunlight, shadowing, and more. Concept iteration now takes minutes instead of days.”
The product can be tailored for a large-scale mixed-use developer or a flipper, Contreras said.
“The power is in the information that’s baked into it, the artificial intelligence, these smart maps,” he said. “The value is, what are your priorities? If you’re a small developer, a flipper, or someone just looking for land, those priorities are different. I’ve been doing architecture for 16 years. You pay people to go scour opportunities. This way, you can find the deals yourself, not only the land that’s for sale, but it takes you through all of the code and onerous information. You can test different types of building concepts — townhome versus single-family, multi-family, or mixed-use — based on setbacks, [floor area ratio], and maximum height. It saves you the fees a design firm would charge for that type of work.”
