BUY OR ELSE

This is an urban legend many of you have probably heard. Some people swear it really happened.

Once upon a time, a developer was assembling land for a new residential subdivision. One by one, it bought out the neighboring parcels. Everything went according to plan, except for one small lot right in the middle.

The owners of that lot asked for a price far above what the developer was willing to pay. Months of negotiation went nowhere.

Then the owners made a threat. If the developer wouldn't meet their price, they would turn their lot into a cemetery.

Picture it. A brand new upscale subdivision, with a cemetery sitting right in the middle of it.

The developer paid the asking price.

Whether or not it happened exactly this way, there's a real lesson here. When you're assembling land, the last parcel is always the most expensive one. The seller knows the whole project depends on it, and price stops being about the land and becomes about leverage.

This is why big land assemblies are usually done quietly, through different buyers, before anyone figures out what's being built.

Do you know which development this story is supposed to be about?