Chapter 01
Hyperscale · Colocation · Edge
Data Centers
Zoning, water, ratepayer economics, and community organizing decide whether a billion dollars of capital actually lands.
CFThe library
Every case file starts in the public record.
222 curated case files spanning data centers, housing, retail, industrial, energy, and specialty uses, backed by 1,200+ source documents. The record your team should already have checked.
When RealClear screens your site, the cited review pulls the relevant comparable fights and checks them against the current local record.
Jump to a vertical
Or search, filter by outcome, or scroll for the full index below.
Community risk review·31 priority files include actor-level community posture. The rest surface themes and position-tagged signals where the public record supports them.
222
Curated Case Files
1,200+
Source Documents
25+
States
6
Covered Verticals
Six verticals · one discipline
Browse by category — or keep scrolling for the full index.
Each vertical carries its own risk grammar. These are the marquee cases worth studying before you screen a site in that use type.
Chapter 02
Drive-thru · Big Box · Grocery
Retail & QSR
Residential adjacency, corridor stacking, and a single ordinance clause decide the fight.
Chapter 03
Multifamily · Missing Middle · BTR
Housing
State preemption, ministerial paths, and neighborhood politics collide on housing at every scale.
Chapter 04
Logistics · Warehouse · Advanced Mfg
Industrial
Dimensional standards, use-classification traps, and environmental review can kill very large deals.
Chapter 05
Solar · BESS · Siting
Energy & Environment
Agricultural politics, state siting councils, and serial-denial coalitions hold more power than the engineer.
Chapter 06
Senior Living · RLUIPA · STR
Specialty & Care
Niche cases where precedent arguments, federal religious-use protections, and corridor-capacity petitions produce unexpected outcomes.
Data Centers
56 casesHyperscale campuses, colocation facilities, and edge deployments where zoning, power, water, noise, and moratorium risk collide with serious capital.
Retail & QSR
45 casesDrive-thrus, big box, grocery, dollar stores, gas stations, and convenience uses where adjacency, access, operating hours, and neighborhood politics decide the fight.
Housing
46 casesMarket-rate apartments, affordable housing, student housing, senior living, and build-to-rent where density, politics, and state law collide.
Industrial
22 casesWarehouse, logistics, manufacturing, and EV projects where dimensional standards, environmental review, and use classification traps can kill very large deals.
Energy & Environment
20 casesSolar farms, battery storage, cell towers, and renewable infrastructure where agricultural preservation, environmental review, and changing state policy create unique landmines.
Specialty
32 casesCannabis, self-storage, hotels, short-term rentals, churches, car washes, and medical uses with niche regulatory traps that do not fit neatly anywhere else.
The library continues to expand across major real estate verticals.