I can’t really get into specific details here, but suppose I were contemplating opening a new amusement park:
I’d have to choose a location that meets the necessary zoning requirements. I know nothing about “land laws”…I’m assuming there are lawyers who specialize in this that could be hired to do the necessary legal work of finding appropriate land?
Similarly, are there lawyers who specialize in the amusement industry? I live near Toronto. I haven’t looked into it, but I’m assuming there must be a few around.
This is somewhat related to the first: Obviously choosing an appropriate site for the business to be successful is important. Are there companies that offer services such as finding conducting the necessary market research? Actually, I know such companies exist, but where would I start looking? If I were considering opening a theme park, I would want to hire a company who is familiar with such a market…not just “Ron’s Business Consulting Inc.”
How would the operations of the Lawyer from #1 be reconciled with the operations of the company from #3? Presumably I would get a nice report from step (3) and possible locations, then have a lawyer investigate the necessary legal moves required for purchasing the location and dealing with zoning restrictions?
Thanks for any help. I realize professional consultation is not possible on here. Just some advice on directions to head in would be great.
Yes. Actually, you’d probably start with a real estate broker, who would suggest suitable sites. Your lawyer would then review the zoning as part of the contract drafting process. Also, sometimes you need to get the property rezoned. Land use lawyers handle this kind of thing regularly.
2)Probably. But odds are, they work for one of your competitors. Best bet here is finding a trade journal. You might be better off hiring a local lawyer without amusement experience (or perhaps with experience in a different kind of amusement) and have him work with an out-of-province lawyer (no conflict of interest with a local competitor) with the specific expertise.
Not much to add here. These companies do exist. No idea on how to find one in Ontario, though.
This could be handled in a variety of ways. You might want to have to consultant evaluate the general area first. If the report is favorable, you would track down a potential property. Your consultant could then revise his study. Normally, these studies would be part of your business plan, which you’d need top get financing.
Because you’re specifically considering the Toronto area, you might do a news search back a couple of years to read about the amusement park that was under consideration for the Downsview Endowment lands at that time. A simple search won’t answer the legalities of the situation, but knowing who the players were in that endeavor might tell you where to start looking for advice.
Most lawyers who handle commercial real estate will be able to address the zoning issues for their particular locality. You’ll almost certainly have a real estate lawyer to handle the purchase or leasing of the land for the amusement park (or other business), and he or she should be able to advise you on the zoning issues. Your real estate broker should have some idea of local zoning issues as well, but if you need to see if a particular specialized use will meet zoning requirements (or other local restrictions), you probably should talk to a real estate lawyer.
There are most likely lawyers that specialize in every industry that is out there. There may not be a lawyer that does full time amusement park work (or whatever business you’re really talking about), but there are at least a few that have some amusement park clients and are familiar with the issues in the industry. Most of the time, a lawyer will not have a problem with representing several clients in the same industry, unless they are direct competitors or in litigation against each other. It is fairly common to have an industry-specialist lawyer from out of your area and a local real estate lawyer, they should work together just fine.
I think you’re talking about a real estate broker here. Some major national or regional firms might have what you’re looking for. Also,there might be search or consulting firms that specialize in your industry, and trade journals would help you locate one who can help.
Any real estate broker or consulting firm would expect to work with a local real estate lawyer for legal (including zoning) questions. If you got a report with possible locations, having a lawyer or lawyers check out the zoning and other regulatory status of each location would be common.
Not to talk you out of using as much lawyer and real estate agent time as possible (I’m a commercial real estate agent ;)) but if you’re serious about this you really should be talking to the local or county (or Canadian equivalent) regional zoning office before you do anything else. The areas where it might be possible to have inherent or special exception zoning for something as high impact as an amusement part are likely to be relatively limited, unless you’re bringing several hundred + good jobs and a big addition to the munipalities tax base to the table, in which case large tract re-zoning for your use is potentially going to be more umm… flexible from a municipal perspective.
Spending time kicking the tires of a bunch of parcels that have no prayer of being re-zoned is a huge (and expensive to you legal billing wise) waste of everyone’s time. Unless you’re coming in like Disney or MGM, first identify what zoning areas are possible then see the real estate brokers and lawyers to target individual properties.
there’s an interesting blurb at rotten.com, it explains how disney took control of a part of florida and created their own local government… googled for disney at rotten: