Developer services in Gainesville, FL: site selection, lease-up and repositioning

What I do for developers

My team's site at investfloridacre.com/about says my experience includes "lease-up strategies, site selection, and repositioning opportunities." The same site says the team "operates under Bosshardt Realty Services." Those are the only claims I make here about my developer work. Ask me on the first call for the specifics that matter to your project.

In practice, a developer needs three things from an advisor: a view on where tenants are going, a way to compare sites, and a plan to fill the building once it is built. Site selection answers the second. Lease-up answers the third. Repositioning applies when you already own an older building and are deciding whether to renovate, change its use or sell.

City plans that govern a Gainesville site

The City of Gainesville Comprehensive Plan sets the rules a commercial site is measured against. The City's comprehensive planning page lists the Future Land Use Element goals, objectives and policies as updated May 13, 2025. The same City page lists the Transportation Mobility Element as updated September 15, 2022, and the Capital Improvements Element, which ties the plan to public spending, as updated October 19, 2017.

A rewrite is underway. The City's planning page says that in September 2024 the Gainesville City Commission directed staff to re-draft Imagine GNV, the proposed new comprehensive plan, in a more simplified and traditional format. I have found no record that the redraft has been adopted, so check the current status with the City before you rely on either version for a site.

The Gainesville Community Reinvestment Area (GCRA) is the other plan to know for downtown and east Gainesville. The GCRA says the City of Gainesville and Alachua County Commissions signed its interlocal agreement in April 2019. It says its budget is approximately $70 million over ten years, averaging about $7 million per year.

The City's GCRA projects page says that in December 2023 the City and County Commissions agreed to focus the GCRA on five transformational projects. The goal is to deliver them by the 2029 fiscal year. For a developer, a site inside the GCRA can sit next to public money already committed.

Where is the demand coming from?

Large institutions are part of the Gainesville picture. The University of Florida reported total enrollment of 63,148 as of fall 2025. UF Health Shands reported 1,145 licensed beds in fiscal year 2025. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 162.6 thousand nonfarm jobs in the Gainesville metro area in August 2026.

These figures describe the base, not a forecast. They do not say any one project will lease. They tell a developer which tenants and users are already in town.

Progress Park and Alachua

Sid Martin Biotech is 32,546 square feet at 12085 Research Dr, with 25 wet labs and 13 active biotech companies.

San Felasco Tech City lists 2,500 up to 210,000 square feet of tech space, with light manufacturing, wet labs and dry labs. Its plan also lists 252 single-family homes, and it sits next to the 7,200-acre San Felasco Hammock preserve. See the Alachua and Progress Park page.

What to bring to our first call

• The parcel address or the area you are searching.
• The use you have in mind and the size you need.
• Your timeline and whether the land is owned, under contract or still a search.
• Any entitlement or zoning work already done.

Contact me about your site, or read my full list of services first.

Ready to compare sites? Send me your brief for a Gainesville site or building.