Development Agreement Reviewer

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name: development-agreement-reviewer
description: Reviews a development agreement or joint development agreement for land, from the landowner's or the developer's side — the area or revenue-sharing mechanics, construction timeline and delay consequences, the power of attorney granted to the developer, and the security protecting the landowner's interest during construction. Use this whenever a user needs a land development or JDA arrangement reviewed — including phrasings like "review this joint development agreement from the landowner's side", "check the area-sharing terms in this development agreement", "what security do we have if the developer defaults", or "review the power of attorney clause in this JDA". Fires for any development agreement, joint development agreement, or similar land development arrangement, from either side.
---

# Development Agreement Reviewer

## What this does

Reviews a development agreement or joint development agreement — the arrangement under which a landowner contributes land and a developer contributes construction in exchange for a share of built-up area or revenue — from one identified side. It works through the sharing mechanics, the construction timeline and what happens on delay, the power of attorney granted to the developer, and what actually secures the landowner's interest during a construction period where the landowner has typically already given up something of value before receiving anything back.

## Before you start

**Which side is being reviewed for — landowner or developer.** These arrangements are structurally asymmetric: the landowner typically parts with possession, sometimes title interest, and grants a power of attorney well before receiving their share, while the developer commits construction obligations recoverable mainly through the project's own success. Ask, and do not begin until confirmed.

**Governing law and the property's location.** Land law, registration requirements, and power of attorney formalities are intensely jurisdiction- and often state-specific. Extract from the documents or ask; treat every formality question as a verification point rather than an assumption.

**The complete document set** — the development agreement itself, any power of attorney, any supplementary allocation or sharing agreement, and permission or approval documents referenced. These commonly cross-reference each other, and reviewing the development agreement without the POA it grants is reviewing half the arrangement.

Not blocking, ask once and proceed on what is confirmed: **posture** — negotiation or executed — which gates whether the output produces redlines or a plain statement of consequence.

## Method

**1. Classify the arrangement** — area-sharing, revenue-sharing, or a hybrid — and the specific mechanics used, in one line before analysing anything.

**2. Read the whole document set once before commenting on any single clause.** A development agreement routinely cross-references a power of attorney, a permissions-responsibility clause, and sometimes a separate allocation agreement; reading one without the others misstates the actual arrangement.

**3. Work through the area or revenue-sharing mechanics precisely.** The ratio, how it is calculated, and — critically — the exact basis it is calculated on: saleable area, built-up area, and carpet area are different measures, and a ratio that looks generous on one basis can be ungenerous on another. Do not assume which basis is meant; work from what the document actually defines.

**4. Work through the construction timeline and delay consequences.** What happens if the developer delays — whether there is a penalty or compensation mechanism — and what recourse the landowner has if the developer abandons the project partway through.

**5. Work through possession and handover mechanics.** When the landowner actually receives their share, in what condition, and whether there is any compensation for temporary accommodation if the landowner had to vacate the property during construction.

**6. Check the power of attorney granted to the developer specifically.** Its scope — general or limited to what the project actually requires — whether it is revocable, and critically what happens to it if the agreement is terminated. An overly broad or effectively irrevocable POA is one of the most significant landowner-adverse terms this document type produces, and it deserves scrutiny independent of the main agreement's own termination clause.

**7. Check responsibility for statutory permissions and approvals** — building plan sanction, environmental clearance, project registration — and the consequence if they are not obtained.

**8. Check what actually secures the landowner's interest during construction.** The landowner has often given up possession or a title interest before receiving their share; check whether the agreement provides real security — a registered charge, a specific mortgage — or only personal covenants that offer little protection if the developer becomes insolvent or simply defaults.

**9. Check termination and its consequences carefully** — what happens to construction already completed, to the power of attorney, to any registration already effected, and to the landowner's original interest in the land if the developer defaults partway through the project.

**10. Grade every issue** using the practice pack's standard three tiers, and produce redlines and fallback only where the posture is negotiation; state consequence only for an executed agreement.

**11. Flag governing-law-dependent points** — land law formalities, registration requirements, power of attorney revocability rules, statutory registration applicability — as verification points rather than asserted facts.

## Output

**1. Parameters.** Side reviewed for, governing law and property location, documents reviewed, posture, date.

**2. Executive summary.** The handful of things that matter most, and the biggest concern for the identified side.

**3. Sharing mechanics.** The ratio, its basis, and how the landowner's share is actually delivered.

**4. Timeline and delay consequences.**

**5. Possession and handover mechanics.**

**6. Power of attorney analysis.** Scope, revocability, and its status on termination.

**7. Permissions and approvals responsibility.**

**8. Security for the landowner's interest.** What actually protects the landowner during construction, stated plainly.

**9. Termination consequences.**

**10. Issues list.** A table: Ref | Clause | Issue | Effect on the reviewed side | Grade | Proposed change | Fallback. Replace the last two columns with a single Consequence column where the posture is executed.

**11. Points requiring verification.** Land law formalities, registration requirements, POA revocability, and statutory permission requirements under the governing law.

## Do not

Do not assume a specific area-sharing ratio or a standard definition of "saleable area." Work from what the document actually defines.

Do not assume the power of attorney is adequately protective, or adequately limited, without checking its actual scope and revocability.

Do not assert that statutory registration or permission requirements are satisfied without confirming.

Do not produce negotiating redlines for an executed agreement not under negotiation. State the consequence instead.

Do not assume land law formalities — registration, POA revocability, statutory approval requirements — are satisfied. Flag them as verification points.