Land acquisition loans provide the capital foundation for development opportunities throughout Utah's increasingly valuable Wasatch Back region. In Park City and surrounding communities, where buildable land grows scarcer each year and property values consistently appreciate, strategic land investments offer both immediate development potential and long-term wealth preservation. Whether you're purchasing a single building lot in a Heber City subdivision, assembling acreage for a master-planned community in Snyderville, or acquiring development sites in emerging areas like Hideout, our land financing delivers the terms and flexibility that sophisticated land investors require.
The land market in Summit and Wasatch Counties operates distinctly from developed real estate. Raw land valuation depends on entitlements, infrastructure availability, topography, views, and development potential rather than comparable sales of finished properties. Prime development land in Park City proper commands premium prices, often $500,000 to $2 million per acre for entitled residential parcels, while agricultural and recreational land in Kamas, Oakley, and Francis offers lower entry points with different risk-return profiles. Understanding these market dynamics is essential for successful land investing.
Our land acquisition loans recognize the unique characteristics of land as collateral and the extended timelines typical of land development. Unlike lenders who simply apply residential mortgage criteria to land purchases, we evaluate entitlements, infrastructure requirements, market absorption, and your development strategy. This specialized approach enables financing for land that conventional lenders reject, unentitled parcels, larger acreages, properties requiring rezoning, and sites with environmental or access challenges that create opportunity for skilled developers.
Applications
Land acquisition loans serve diverse investment strategies across the varied landscape of Wasatch County. Infill development sites in built-up Park City neighborhoods, scraped lots where older structures were demolished, subdivided parcels in established areas, or small assemblages creating buildable sites, command premium prices but offer immediate development opportunities with established infrastructure and certain demand. These acquisitions often require quick closings to compete with cash buyers, making hard money land financing essential.
Subdivision lot purchases in planned communities throughout the region support both custom home construction and speculative development. Communities like Promontory, Tuhaye, Victory Ranch, and Red Ledges sell finished lots to builders and individuals for custom construction. The Canyons Village area, Hideout, and expanding Snyderville districts offer development parcels ranging from single lots to multi-acre sites for townhome and small multifamily projects. Our financing enables acquisition of these entitled lots while you arrange construction financing or market spec homes.
Agricultural and recreational land investments in the Heber Valley, Kamas, and Oakley areas provide different value propositions. These larger parcels, 5 to 100+ acres, often include water rights, agricultural infrastructure, and scenic qualities that support ranching operations, equestrian facilities, or future development as the region grows. Land banking, acquiring unentitled acreage before infrastructure expansion reaches the area, has generated substantial returns for patient investors who correctly anticipate growth patterns and successfully navigate entitlement processes.
Commercial and mixed-use development sites throughout Kimball Junction, Heber City, and Coalville serve the region's expanding business community. These properties require zoning analysis, traffic impact studies, and infrastructure capacity evaluation that our underwriting includes. Assembly of multiple parcels to create development sites of sufficient scale represents another land investment strategy that our financing supports, particularly in areas experiencing rapid growth.
Common Challenges
Land acquisition financing presents obstacles that conventional lenders rarely overcome. Unentitled land, parcels without approved building permits or completed subdivision processes, carries entitlement risk that banks view as excessive. The timeline and cost to secure zoning approvals, complete environmental studies, install infrastructure, and achieve buildable status is uncertain and often extends years beyond initial projections. Our land lending evaluates entitlement feasibility and structures loans with terms and milestones that accommodate these extended timelines.
Carrying costs during the holding period create cash flow challenges for land investors. Unlike rental properties that generate income, vacant land produces no revenue while incurring property taxes, loan payments, insurance, and maintenance costs. In Park City and Summit County, where property tax assessments reflect development potential rather than agricultural use, annual taxes on prime development land can reach $10,000 to $50,000 per acre. Our land loans can include interest reserves covering payments during the entitlement period, preserving investor capital for development expenses.
Market and regulatory risks affect land values more dramatically than developed properties. Zoning changes, growth management policies, infrastructure delays, or economic downturns can significantly impact development feasibility and land values. The Wasatch Back's strong growth trajectory has supported land values historically, but individual parcels face specific risks, wetlands designation, endangered species habitat, archaeological finds, or neighborhood opposition to development. Our underwriting assesses these parcel-specific risks and structures loans with appropriate equity cushions and milestone requirements.
Our Approach
Our land acquisition loan process begins with thorough due diligence that evaluates both the parcel itself and the broader development context. We review title reports identifying easements, restrictions, or access issues; survey maps confirming boundaries and topography; zoning regulations governing permitted uses and development standards; and infrastructure availability including roads, utilities, water, and sewer. This comprehensive analysis identifies potential obstacles early and informs realistic development timelines and budgets.
Valuation methodology for land differs fundamentally from improved property appraisal. We evaluate comparable land sales, adjusted for size, location, entitlements, and timing; development potential based on zoning and market demand; and replacement cost considering the expense of assembling similar parcels. For unentitled land, we assess entitlement probability, estimated timeline, and required investment to achieve buildable status. This nuanced valuation approach ensures loan amounts reflect realistic land values rather than optimistic projections.
Loan structuring accommodates the extended timelines typical of land development. Terms range from 12 months for entitled lots ready for immediate construction to 36 months for larger parcels requiring extensive entitlement work. Interest rates reflect the risk profile, higher for unentitled land, lower for finished lots in approved developments. Release provisions allow partial loan paydown as parcels are sold or developed, reducing carrying costs and aligning financing with project phasing. We coordinate with land use attorneys, civil engineers, and environmental consultants familiar with Utah development regulations and Summit County planning processes.
Serving Our land acquisition financing covers development opportunities throughout the Wasatch Back including entitled lots in Park City neighborhoods and golf communities, subdivision parcels in Hideout and Snyderville, agricultural acreage in Kamas, Oakley, and Francis, commercial development sites in Kimball Junction and Heber City, and recreational properties in Woodland, Wanship, and the Heber Valley. We understand the distinct entitlement processes, infrastructure availability, and development economics across these diverse submarkets.