HighGate Realty Advisors
Land & Development Consulting · Central Virginia

A clearer path for your property.

Know the land. Understand the value.

Before a sale, an acquisition, or a development commitment, understand your options—and what it may take to move forward.

HighGate Realty Advisors helps landowners, families, buyers, and developers evaluate opportunities, coordinate investigations, and shape practical development strategies.

Wooden fence bordering a green meadow
Start with the decision

You do not need every answer to begin.

You may be weighing an unsolicited offer, considering an acquisition, or wondering whether development fits your land and your goals. A consulting engagement starts by identifying the decision you need to make and the information that would help you make it.

Jon Beckner brings experience in brokerage, acquisitions, and development to that conversation. HighGate can help organize the questions, evaluate the available information, and coordinate the next steps.

Consulting can begin before a decision to list a property. The scope, responsibilities, deliverables, and compensation are agreed upon for each assignment.

Where we can help

Advice grounded in the realities of development.

Assignments are tailored to the property, the stage of the project, and the decisions ahead.

Landowner advisory & property evaluation

Explore a property’s potential alongside its constraints. Review available information on zoning, access, utilities, soils, and environmental conditions, and identify questions that require further investigation.

Acquisition & due diligence strategy

Organize the evaluation of a prospective purchase. Help establish investigation priorities, coordinate specialists, assess transaction terms, and connect findings to the buyer’s goals and schedule.

Entitlement consulting & management

Help define an approval strategy and coordinate the consultants, applications, and timelines involved in zoning and entitlement work. Keep ownership informed as requirements and project assumptions evolve.

Development economics & positioning

Compare preliminary development scenarios, costs, timing, and potential market positioning. Identify the assumptions that matter most before committing further capital or selecting an exit strategy.

Mixed-use & agrihood consulting

Draw on experience across residential, commercial, mixed-use, and agriculture-centered projects to explore how land use, community goals, agriculture, and market demand can work together.

Project coordination & sale readiness

Bring acquisition, approvals, development strategy, and marketing into a coordinated plan. Help owners organize project information, assess next steps, and prepare for conversations with buyers, builders, or partners.

Preliminary evaluations help guide decisions. Engineering, surveying, environmental delineation, legal opinions, and governmental approvals require the appropriate professionals or agencies. Development outcomes depend on property-specific findings and applicable approvals.

A useful result

Information you can act on.

The deliverable should answer the question that brought you to the table.

Depending on the assignment

  • A preliminary property assessment and list of outstanding questions.
  • An options summary comparing possible paths forward.
  • A due diligence checklist with responsibilities and priorities.
  • A preliminary development financial analysis with stated assumptions.
  • An entitlement action plan and working schedule.
  • A coordinated strategy for acquisition, development, or sale.

The scope is established before work begins; each engagement may include some or all of these elements.

Experience behind the advice

From acquisition to the decisions that follow.

Jon Beckner’s background includes more than 30 years in real estate sales, acquisitions, development, project restructuring, and private equity real estate investments.

StillCroft

Co-developer

A development role that informs Jon’s perspective on the relationship between land, project strategy, and execution.

Chickahominy Falls

Acquisitions & entitlement consultant

Consulting experience connecting property acquisition and the entitlement process within an agriculture-centered community.

Agriburbia

Partner

Experience at the intersection of real estate and agriculture, contributing to consulting discussions about productive landscapes and community development.

A broader perspective

Local, regional & national assignments

Former national acquisitions director for an international private equity firm and co-founder of the first Coldwell Banker franchise on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Additional experience includes consulting assignments involving development capital raises.

Aerial view of rural acreage with woodland and open fields
Working with HighGate

A defined scope. A practical next step.

Work directly with Jon to establish what needs to be understood, who needs to be involved, and how the assignment will move forward.

Based in the Richmond region and serving Central Virginia, with experience across multiple states.

Jon Beckner · Principal Broker
Licensed in Virginia, North Carolina, and Colorado.

Discuss the goals

Share the property, the situation, and the decision you are considering.

Define the assignment

Agree on scope, deliverables, timing, and compensation.

Evaluate & coordinate

Review available information and coordinate the investigations or specialists needed.

Choose the next step

Review findings and options, then establish a course aligned with your goals.

Common questions

Before we begin.

Do I need to be ready to sell?

No. Consulting can help you evaluate your options before deciding whether to hold, sell, pursue approvals, or explore a development relationship.

Can you help before I buy a property?

Yes. An acquisition consulting assignment can help organize due diligence, assess available information, and identify questions to resolve before moving forward. Buyer representation can also be discussed where appropriate.

How are consulting assignments priced?

Compensation depends on the agreed scope, deliverables, and level of involvement. These terms are established for the specific engagement before work begins.

What should I provide for an initial conversation?

A property address or parcel number, approximate acreage, your goals and timing, and any available surveys, plans, or prior studies provide a useful starting point.

How does this relate to Land Services?

Consulting provides focused analysis, strategy, and project coordination. HighGate’s broader land services also include seller representation and buyer representation. Explore Land Services.

Start a conversation

Discuss your property or project.

Tell Jon where the property is, its approximate acreage, what you hope to accomplish, and your timing. We can begin by identifying the questions worth answering.

Jon Beckner

Principal Broker · HighGate Realty Advisors

[email protected]
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