On this page 13 sections
TL;DR
- Rent is a share of build cost. Small businesses pay back in 14–17 days, mid-size in 21, towers in 27–33, landmarks in about 40.
- Land is a flat cost per plot and earns nothing. Buy on the edge, in cheap cities, and put the biggest building you can afford on each plot.
- Past six buildings, each extra one trims 1% off all your rent (up to 40%). Upgrades don't count toward that, so upgrade before you sprawl.
- Each upgrade adds 20% rent but costs 1.5× the last. The first pays back in about 21 days; street businesses stop at level 5.
- Collect at least once a day. Registers hold 24 hours of rent, and that's exactly what robbers take.
Land
Each city is a grid of blocks, each block a 4×4 grid of plots. Buy plots one at a time or build straight onto free plots in one go; either way you pay for the land.
- Price falls with distance from downtown. A Port Marlow lot next to the Golden Ace costs $6,750; four blocks out, $3,000.
- Each city has its own price. Sundale is 40% off, Ironbridge 30% off, Havenbrook 20% more, Neon Bay 40% more.
- Your side matters. Civilians pay 10% less for land and buildings; criminals pay a 10% markup.
- You have to be there to buy, build or upgrade. Cities open by level: Sundale 3, Ironbridge 5, Neon Bay 8.
- The expansion rule: you can only buy within 3 blocks of a block that already has a property. Build on the frontier and you open new land for everyone.
| City | Land | Downtown lot | 4 blocks out | 6 blocks out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sundale | ×0.6 | $4,000 | $1,750 | $1,250 |
| Ironbridge | ×0.7 | $4,750 | $2,000 | $1,500 |
| Port Marlow | ×1.0 | $6,750 | $3,000 | $2,000 |
| Havenbrook | ×1.2 | $8,250 | $3,500 | $2,250 |
| Neon Bay | ×1.4 | $9,500 | $4,000 | $2,750 |
Per plot, before your side's multiplier. Footprints are in plots: a 2×1 building needs two, a Resort sixteen.
The building ladder
Every building, cheapest first. Rent and payback are base rates at level 1 for the building alone, after the 4% running cost that $1M+ buildings pay from day one. Highlighted rows are the classic next steps.
| Building | Tier | Cost | Rent/day | Payback | Footprint | Where |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food Cart | Permit | $1,500 | $108 | 14 days | 1×1 | All cities |
| Taco Stand | Permit | $3,500 | $252 | 14 days | 1×1 | All cities |
| Laundromat | Permit | $5,000 | $336 | 15 days | 1×1 | All cities |
| Corner Store | Small | $8,000 | $504 | 16 days | 1×1 | All cities |
| Parking Lot | Small | $8,000 | $480 | 17 days | 1×1 | All cities |
| Deli | Small | $12,000 | $708 | 17 days | 1×1 | All cities |
| Boutique | Small | $15,000 | $912 | 16 days | 1×1 | All cities |
| Pawn Shop | Small | $18,000 | $1,080 | 17 days | 1×1 | All cities |
| Bakery | Small | $20,000 | $1,200 | 17 days | 1×1 | Havenbrook |
| House | Small | $25,000 | $1,488 | 17 days | 1×1 | All cities |
| Cantina | Small | $25,000 | $1,488 | 17 days | 1×1 | Sundale |
| Restaurant | Small | $32,000 | $1,920 | 17 days | 1×1 | All cities |
| Arcade | Small | $45,000 | $2,688 | 17 days | 1×1 | Neon Bay |
| Motel | Mid-size | $70,000 | $3,360 | 21 days | 2×1 | Sundale |
| Fish Market | Mid-size | $80,000 | $3,840 | 21 days | 2×1 | Port Marlow |
| Warehouse | Mid-size | $90,000 | $4,320 | 21 days | 2×1 | All cities |
| Apartments | Mid-size | $120,000 | $5,760 | 21 days | 1×1 | All cities |
| Brownstone | Mid-size | $150,000 | $7,200 | 21 days | 1×1 | Havenbrook |
| Gym | Mid-size | $180,000 | $8,640 | 21 days | 2×1 | All cities |
| Gas Station | Mid-size | $220,000 | $10,560 | 21 days | 2×1 | All cities |
| Scrapyard | Mid-size | $350,000 | $16,800 | 21 days | 2×2 | Ironbridge |
| Parkade | Mid-size | $450,000 | $21,600 | 21 days | 2×2 | All cities |
| Nightclub | Mid-size | $600,000 | $28,800 | 21 days | 2×1 | All cities |
| Auto Garage | Mid-size | $800,000 | $38,400 | 21 days | 3×2 | Sundale, Ironbridge |
| Cocktail Lounge | Mid-size | $900,000 | $43,200 | 21 days | 2×1 | Neon Bay |
| Factory | Tower | $2M | $73,728 | 27 days | 3×2 | Ironbridge |
| Office Tower | Tower | $3M | $110,592 | 27 days | 1×1 | All cities |
| Shipyard | Tower | $4.5M | $165,888 | 27 days | 3×2 | Port Marlow |
| Shopping Mall | Tower | $7.5M | $276,480 | 27 days | 3×2 | All cities |
| Hotel | Tower | $12M | $359,424 | 33 days | 2×2 | Marlow, Neon Bay, Havenbrook |
| Skyscraper | Tower | $18M | $539,136 | 33 days | 2×2 | All cities |
| Bank | Tower | $25M | $748,800 | 33 days | 2×2 | Marlow, Havenbrook |
| Casino | Tower | $40M | $1,198,080 | 33 days | 2×2 | Neon Bay |
| Sky Tower | Landmark | $75M | $1,900,800 | 39 days | 2×2 | Marlow, Neon Bay |
| Stadium | Landmark | $90M | $2,280,960 | 39 days | 4×4 | Ironbridge, Havenbrook |
| Resort | Landmark | $120M | $3,041,280 | 39 days | 4×4 | Sundale, Neon Bay |
Civilians: costs ×0.9, rent ×1.2, so paybacks are a quarter shorter. Criminals: costs ×1.1, rent ×0.9. City bonuses (below) add up to 35% more rent. The two Corner Stores are different buildings: the $8,000 one comes first.
Why land changes everything
Paybacks in the table ignore land, and land earns nothing. On a cheap plot that hardly matters for a tower. For a cart it's most of the price.
- Food Cart: $1,500 + lot = $4,250, earns $108/day
- 39 days
- Taco Stand: $3,500 + lot = $6,250, earns $252/day
- 25 days
- Deli: $12,000 + lot = $14,750, earns $708/day
- 21 days
- Same plot, same land. Bigger building, faster payback.
- ↓ 18 days
In Sundale the same plot six blocks out costs $1,250, so a Taco Stand there pays back everything in 19 days.
Permits and portfolio overhead
The three street businesses, the Food Cart, Taco Stand and Laundromat, run on street-vendor permits: two of each, and they top out at level 5. They're how you start, not how you get rich.
Then there's overhead. Your first six buildings run free. Every building past six trims 1% off the rent of every property you own, up to 40%. Empty lots don't count, and neither do upgrades.
- Six permits filled: 2 carts, 2 taco stands, 2 laundromats
- $1,392/day
- Add a Deli as building #7 (+$708/day)
- $2,100/day
- Overhead: 1% off everything
- −$21/day
- What the Deli really adds
- $687/day
One percent is cheap for a Deli. It's ruinous for a cart. At 20 buildings you lose 14% of all rent; at 46 or more, the full 40%. A few big buildings beat a sprawl of small ones.
Upgrades
Any building upgrades to level 10 (street businesses stop at 5). Each level adds 20% rent, compounding. Each costs 30% of the build price times 1.5 for every level already gained, so every level pays back slower than the last. Upgrades also add to the building's robbery defense.
| Upgrade | Cost | Extra rent/day | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 → 2 | $1,050 | +$50 | 21 days |
| Level 2 → 3 | $1,575 | +$60 | 26 days |
| Level 3 → 4 | $2,363 | +$73 | 33 days |
| Level 4 → 5 | $3,544 | +$87 | 41 days |
| Level 5 → 6 (non-street buildings) | 30% × 1.54 | upkeep starts | 80–100 days |
The rule of thumb: a first or second upgrade (21–26 days, no land, no overhead) beats a new small building once you're at six. Levels 6 to 10 are for buildings you'll own for months.
Upkeep
Past level 5, each level costs 6% of the building's rent to run: 6% at level 6, up to 30% at level 10. Buildings that cost $1M or more pay 4% from the start. Upkeep comes out before rent reaches the register, so what you see there is yours.
City bonuses and your side
The bonus is baked into a building's rent when you build it, and again each time you upgrade.
| City | Bonus rent | Only here |
|---|---|---|
| Port Marlow | Warehouses, fish markets, shipyards +25%; hotels +10% | Fish Market, Shipyard |
| Sundale | Gas stations +30%; motels +25%; cantinas, auto garages, parking +20% | Motel, Cantina |
| Ironbridge | Warehouses +30%; factories, scrapyards +25%; auto garages +20%; gyms +15% | Factory, Scrapyard |
| Neon Bay | Nightclubs +35%; casinos, lounges, arcades +30%; hotels +20% | Arcade, Cocktail Lounge, Casino |
| Havenbrook | Restaurants, delis, bakeries +25%; houses, brownstones +20%; apartments +15% | Brownstone, Bakery |
- Deli, with the civilian 10% discount
- $10,800
- Rent: $29.50/hr × 1.25 city × 1.2 civilian
- $1,062/day
- Payback on the building
- 10 days
The same Deli for a criminal in Port Marlow costs $13,200 and earns $637 a day: 21 days. Side and city together double the speed.
Registers and robbery defense
Rent doesn't land in your pocket. It fills each property's register, up to 24 hours' worth, and waits. Collect from the property card or all at once. A full register stops filling.
Criminals rob registers, never your pocket or your bank. A successful job takes 45–90% of what's waiting. Each property can be hit once an hour. Its defense is:
Security × 10 + level × 4 + half the owner's defense
Security runs from 1 (carts, delis, parking) to 5 (Banks and Sky Towers). Every property card shows how often it's been hit and how much it lost.
Turf
In a crew, the crew with the most plots on a block (at least 4 of 16) holds it. Its members' buildings there earn +5%, and everyone else's rent on that block pays a 3% protection cut into the holding crew's vault. Build next to your crewmates. See the crews guide.
Selling, wiring and the bank tax
- Selling returns 75% of everything you put in (land and upgrades included), 80% for an empty lot. It's for repositioning, not profit.
- Wire transfers: short on cash for a build or upgrade? The bank covers the rest for a 1.5% fee on the shortfall. Wiring $90,000 for a warehouse costs $1,350.
- The bank tax is why big idle balances belong in buildings:
| Part of your balance | Daily rate |
|---|---|
| First $5,000 | Free |
| $5K to $100K | 0.2% |
| $100K to $500K | 0.3% |
| $500K to $1M | 0.4% |
| $1M to $3M | 0.6% |
| $3M to $10M | 0.8% |
| Above $10M | 1.2% |
$100K banked pays $190 a day; $1M about $3,400; $10M about $71,000. A Mega Yacht shelters $5M of it. Crew vaults pay too.
Advice by side
Civilians
You're the landlord class: paybacks a quarter shorter than anyone's. Never stop building. Havenbrook delis and Sundale gas stations are your bread and butter.
Police
Standard rates everywhere, so chase city bonuses. Collect between patrols; criminals rob a cop's registers as happily as anyone's.
Criminals
The 10% markup and 10% haircut add up. Build in Sundale and Ironbridge, where cheap land offsets it, and fund it with loot, not wages.
Common mistakes
- Downtown lots for small businesses. The extra $4,000 of land earns nothing.
- A tenth Food Cart-sized building. Overhead shaves every property you own.
- Maxing out a cart. Street businesses stop at level 5 anyway. Buy a Corner Store.
- Levels 8 to 10 too early. Paybacks run past 150 days. Build something new instead.
- Sitting on a fat bank balance. The tax nibbles daily. Rent compounds.
- Forgetting the register. A building you never visit has earned one day, and robbers love it.
Pro tips
- Plan the block. Scrapyards are 2×2 and Auto Garages 3×2. Buy the plots in a shape that fits before someone builds in the gap.
- Upgrade where the bonus is. A city bonus is re-applied every level, so upgrade your Havenbrook deli before your Marlow one.
- Use the wire. 1.5% on the shortfall is cheaper than walking around with $90,000 in your pocket.
- Edge first, then fill in. Frontier plots are cheapest the day the frontier reaches them.