Glossary

Terms used in our reports

Plain-English definitions of the terms used in our reports. The same words appear when you tap a ? next to a term in a report. These are definitions only, not advice.

36 terms in 6 sections

Zoning and site

FAR · Floor area ratio #: A building's total floor area divided by the area of its lot.; A FAR of 2.0 on a 10,000 SF lot means 20,000 SF of floor area. The zoning code sets the most a lot may have.
By-right #: Development the zoning code allows without a rezoning, special exception or variance, if it meets the code's standards.; Site plan, permit and other reviews may still apply.
Optional method #: In Montgomery County's CR zones, development above the standard density and height in return for public benefits, approved through a sketch plan.; The zone's name gives both limits; for example, CR-3.0 allows a total FAR of up to 3.0 under the optional method.
Standard method #: In Montgomery County's CR zones, development up to the zone's base density and height under its general standards.; Larger projects use the optional method instead, which allows more in return for public benefits.
Walkshed #: The area within a set walking distance of a place, such as a Metro entrance, measured along streets and paths.; Because it follows the walking network rather than a straight line, a walkshed is usually smaller than a circle of the same distance.
Opportunity Zone #: A census tract designated a Qualified Opportunity Zone by the U.S. Treasury, where certain investments can qualify for federal tax treatment.; The 2018 designations run through December 31, 2028; the 2027 designations run from January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2036. The designation applies to the whole census tract; it says nothing about a particular property's condition or value. The 2018 zones are 2010 census tracts and the 2027 zones are 2020 census tracts, so the tract numbers can differ for the same place.
Special Flood Hazard Area · Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) #: Land FEMA maps as having a 1% or greater chance of flooding in any year; its zones begin with A or V.; Often called the 100-year floodplain.
Zone X #: FEMA's label for land outside the Special Flood Hazard Area.; Shaded Zone X has a 0.2% annual chance of flooding (the 500-year floodplain); unshaded Zone X has minimal flood hazard.

Debt and leases

RSF · Rentable square feet #: The area a tenant pays rent on: its own space plus a share of the building's common areas, such as lobbies and corridors.; Usable square feet (USF) counts the tenant's own space only, so RSF is the larger figure.
Full service · Full-service gross lease #: A lease whose rent includes the building's operating costs, such as taxes, insurance, utilities and cleaning.; Many full-service leases pass on increases in those costs above a base year.
CMBS conduit · Commercial mortgage-backed security, conduit #: A bond deal that pools commercial mortgages from many unrelated borrowers and properties and sells them to investors.; Each deal files loan-level data with the SEC, which is where the report's CMBS loan facts come from.
Special servicer #: The company that takes over a securitized loan when it is in default or close to it, to modify, extend or foreclose on it.; A loan moved to the special servicer is described as "specially serviced".
Servicer watchlist #: A securitized loan servicer's list of loans showing possible signs of trouble, such as falling occupancy or a near maturity.; Being on the watchlist does not mean the loan is in default.
Liber/folio #: The book (liber) and page (folio) where a deed or other document is recorded in the county land records.; Quoting the liber and folio is how a recorded document is found.
Deed of trust #: The recorded document that pledges real estate as security for a loan; commonly used in Maryland, Virginia and DC in place of a mortgage.; A trustee holds the legal title for the lender until the loan is repaid, when a release is recorded.

Environmental

RCRA corrective action · Resource Conservation and Recovery Act corrective action #: The EPA program that requires facilities handling hazardous waste to investigate and clean up releases at their sites.; A RCRA record shows the facility is in the program; its status says how far the investigation or cleanup has gone.
Superfund / NPL · Superfund, National Priorities List #: Superfund is the federal program for cleaning up seriously contaminated sites; the National Priorities List (NPL) is EPA's list of them.; The program is set up by CERCLA, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.
LUST · Leaking underground storage tank #: A reported leak from an underground fuel or chemical tank, tracked by the state as an open or closed case.; A closed case is one the state agency has closed.
Brownfield #: A property whose reuse may be complicated by contamination, or the possibility of it.; Many are enrolled in a state or EPA brownfields program that sets cleanup terms for reuse.
Phase I / ASTM E1527 · Phase I Environmental Site Assessment #: A records review, site visit and interviews that look for recognized environmental conditions; ASTM E1527-21 is the standard way to do one.; This report's environmental screen is a search of public records, not a Phase I.
AAI · All Appropriate Inquiries #: EPA's rule for the inquiry into a property's past uses and conditions made before it is bought.; A Phase I done under ASTM E1527-21 meets the rule.

Location

AADT · Annual average daily traffic #: The average number of vehicles that pass a point on a road each day over a year.; Counted or estimated by the state transportation agency; the report gives the count's year.
kV · Kilovolt #: A thousand volts: the voltage rating of a power line.; High-voltage transmission lines usually carry 69 kV or more.

Parcel IDs

GPIN · Geographic Parcel Identification Number #: The parcel ID some Virginia localities use, based on the parcel's map coordinates.; Chesterfield County is one of the localities that uses it.
Tax map ID #: A parcel ID built from the parcel's place on the locality's tax maps, such as its map, block and parcel numbers.; Its format differs from one locality to the next.

Comparable sales

Time-adjusted $/SF #: A sale's price per square foot adjusted to today's market using the price trend for that type of property (measured with enough sales, otherwise a fixed regional rate).; The recorded sale price itself is not changed.
Size band #: The range of building sizes, around the subject property's size, that a sale is compared within.
Bulk sale #: One deed that sold several parcels for a single price.; Because the price covers all the parcels, the report shares it across them or sets the sale aside rather than reading it as one parcel's price.
Operator group #: The wider group of companies an owning entity belongs to, linked through public business filings.; Names and roles are shown as filed.
Match #: How closely a sale property resembles the subject on recorded facts such as type, size, age, location and zoning, as a percentage.; 75% and above is a strong match, 50-74% moderate, under 50% weak.
In value #: Whether a sale was used in the estimated value and, if it was, its share (weight) of the estimate.; A sale that was not used shows the reason, such as a bulk sale. On a document whose headline is a member's comp selection, the share is of that figure.
Team note #: Your team's own judgment of this comp: include or exclude, a reason and a note. Only your team sees it. Notes never change a value.; To leave a sale out of a figure of your own, use Your comp selection.
Your comp selection #: Your team's own figure from the comparable sales you keep, put back or add, weighted the way the engine weights sales but without the assessment or own-sale step.; The Locumetric estimate doesn't change. You can make it the headline of a PDF, share link or BOV pack; it is labelled as yours, with the Locumetric estimate for reference.
Alternates #: Up to 5 more sales from the same search the report ran, shown once per report version when you ask.; Showing them counts one of your team's monthly property rows for each alternate.
Named sale #: A sale you add by naming one property.; 1 credit adds up to 4 named sales to a report's property within its 90-day re-run window; a sale already in your team's reports from the last 12 months is free.
Entered by your team #: A sale your team typed in, such as an off-market deal.; It stays private to your team, is never added to Locumetric's records, and is labelled not a public record.