Every output is explainable.
UnlockLand is decision intelligence, not a black box. Behind every buildable-area estimate, yield study, feasibility score, and return figure sits a traceable chain of planning rules, stated assumptions, and cited data sources. This page explains exactly how that chain works.
Real parcels. Real planning rules. A result you can defend.
The reasoning pipeline — five recorded stages from raw parcel data to a cited, defensible result.
Principles we hold every result to
These are the commitments that make an UnlockLand output something you can defend in front of a lender, a planning officer, or an investment committee.
Open any result to see the rule, the assumption, and the data point it came from. Nothing is asserted without provenance.
We never bury inputs. Cost, revenue, timing, and risk assumptions are labeled and shown alongside the output.
Defaults get you started fast, but you can replace any assumption with your own numbers and instantly recompute.
Where data is incomplete or a bylaw is ambiguous, we say so and show ranges instead of false precision.
How an address becomes a decision
Each step is recorded, so you can open any result and trace it back to the rule and data point that produced it.
We resolve the address to a legal parcel and pull its geometry, lot dimensions, and jurisdiction.
Zoning designation, overlays, density, setbacks, height, and parking rules are layered onto the parcel to determine the legal envelope.
Within the legal and physical envelope, the AI produces massing and unit-mix scenarios that respect every binding constraint.
Each scenario is run against construction cost, revenue, timing, and risk assumptions to produce a feasibility view.
We model the pro-forma, derive returns, and rank scenarios so you can choose the highest-and-best use with the trade-offs visible.
Planning rules we apply
UnlockLand encodes the constraints that govern what can legally and physically be built on a parcel. When a rule changes by jurisdiction or is ambiguous, we surface it rather than hide it.
Permitted uses, density caps, and the designation governing what can be built.
Front, rear, and side setbacks that shape the buildable footprint.
Maximum height, storey limits, and angular planes where applicable.
Floor-area ratios and lot coverage that cap total buildable area.
Minimum or maximum parking ratios and access requirements.
Heritage, flood, environmental, and other overlays that modify base zoning.
Assumptions, made visible and editable
Feasibility and returns depend on assumptions. We default to market-calibrated values, label every one, and let you override them — because your numbers should be yours.
Hard and soft costs per buildable area, calibrated to product type, market, and recent escalation.
Sale prices or rents per unit and per area, drawn from comparable projects in the submarket.
Entitlement, construction, and lease-up or sales durations that drive cash-flow phasing.
Planning, market, and execution risk expressed as contingencies and scenario adjustments.
Where our data comes from
We combine authoritative public records with continuously refreshed market data. Each output carries the provenance of the data it relied on.
Municipal and regional zoning codes, official plans, bylaws, and parcel registries — the authoritative basis for what is permitted.
Parcel boundaries, topography, overlays, and mapping layers used to model the physical and legal envelope.
Comparable sales, lease rates, and absorption data refreshed continuously to keep revenue assumptions current.
Construction cost indices and regional benchmarks for hard and soft costs by product type.
Project inputs and professional workflows contributed by owners, builders, and consultants, used to refine context.
Open any number, read its trace
This is what "explainable" looks like in practice. Click a result in the app and an explainability trace unfolds — each rule that shaped it, and the exact source it was cited from.
Illustrative trace — every figure links back to the rule applied and the source it was drawn from.
How feasibility and returns are computed
Derived from the binding constraint among FAR/FSR, coverage, setbacks, and height — we apply whichever rule produces the smallest legal envelope, then net for efficiency.
Buildable area is allocated across product types using efficiency ratios and minimum unit sizes to estimate achievable units.
A normalized read combining capacity, planning risk, cost intensity, and return potential — designed to compare scenarios, not replace underwriting.
A pro-forma projects revenue, costs, and financing across the timeline to produce margin, yield-on-cost, and IRR under your stated assumptions.
UnlockLand outputs are decision-support estimates, not appraisals, investment advice, or guarantees of permit approval. Always validate critical assumptions with qualified local professionals before committing capital. See our Terms of Service.
See the reasoning on a real address.
Run any parcel and open the explanation behind every number. Talk to our team to get started.