[Massplanners] [EXTERNAL]Mandatory Mixed Use - 3A Zoning Question

[Jeffrey Robert Levine]

There are lots of communities completing 3A Economic Feasibility Analyses right now to keep their inclusionary zoning levels above 10% at 80% AMI. It’s not that different a process to look at a typical MMU project and see what size it needs to be to be feasible, though the commercial component will complicate the analysis a bit.

Spoiler, it will depend a lot on interest rates and construction costs. Because both are so high right now, this work would ideally focus on the change in viability by adding another story, not the absolute feasibility.

Jeff

Jeff Levine, AICP (he/him)
Associate Professor of the Practice
Program Head, Housing, Community & Economic Development
Department of Urban Studies & Planning
Room 9-511
jrlevine at mit.edu<mailto:jrlevine at mit.edu>
https://dusp.mit.edu/people/jeff-levine
Personal Zoom Room: https://mit.zoom.us/my/jeff.levine
Levine, J. (2021). Leadership in Planning: How to Communicate Ideas and Effect Positive Change (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429279287
(617) 817-0424
[MIT]


On Jul 16, 2024, at 3:24 PM, Ryan, Christopher via MassPlanners <massplanners at masscptc.org<mailto:massplanners at masscptc.org>> wrote:

Thanks, will do.

One issue has been the assertion that at some point, the market will change and 3 stories will be feasible again…..maybe, maybe not.

So logically, we zone for a desired outcome, not a market condition. But who knows if the state might balk at 3 story MMU based on development feasibility. I wonder if they’ve had the opportunity to evaluate this as yet.

Chris

From: Richard McCarthy <rmccarthy at norfolk.ma.us<mailto:rmccarthy at norfolk.ma.us>>
Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2024 2:01 PM
To: Ryan, Christopher <cryan at belmont-ma.gov<mailto:cryan at belmont-ma.gov>>
Cc: Mass Planners <massplanners at masscptc.org<mailto:massplanners at masscptc.org>>
Subject: [EXTERNAL]Mandatory Mixed Use - 3A Zoning Question

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Chris,

It’s a challenging question to answer.  I’m sure you know there are so many variables in doing mixed use.   We struggle with the same questions here. I remember 3 years ago when we working on increasing building height from 2 ½ stories to  3 stories people were very concerned.  We have a great mixed use building in town center that is 2 ½ stories that is fully occupied. We explained how that project at 2 ½ stories was pretty unique  in that that a local bank owned the property received site plan approval couldn’t afford to build a standalone bank. The bank partnered bank with a local developer to build a mixed use building which they are a tenant with other tenants.

We are tackling this topic again if I have anything I will share.

Please share what you have.

Thanks.

Richard J. McCarthy, Jr.
Town Planner
1 Liberty Lane
Norfolk, MA 02056
508-440-2807
Office Hours- Monday through Thursday 9am to 6pm
Closed Fridays

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From: MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org<mailto:massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org>> On Behalf Of Ryan, Christopher via MassPlanners
Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2024 10:55 AM
To: massplanners at masscptc.org<mailto:massplanners at masscptc.org>
Subject: [Massplanners] Mandatory Mixed Use - 3A Zoning Question

Good morning planners

I am having a lot of trouble finding resources to verify an assumption that mixed use buildings are generally not viable at 3 stories and require at least 3 stories of residential in addition to the ground floor commercial to be feasible to develop in the current market. We’ve been counseled on this by several consultants but have not been able to find any journal articles, newspaper pieces, memos, white papers, or anything else that definitively provides evidence for this.

Since we are seeking to establish a mandatory mixed use zoning subdistrict in Belmont, we’d like to be able to provide information to our citizens who are skeptical about this assumption and would rather we limit MMU to 3 stories total. Does anyone have information which could help us with our outreach for this provision?

Thanks in advance,

Chris R.

====================================================
Christopher J. Ryan, AICP, Ph.D.
Director of Planning & Building
Town of Belmont
19 Moore Street
Belmont, MA 02478-0900
Tel: 617.993.2658
Email: cryan at belmont-ma.gov<mailto:cryan at belmont-ma.gov>
Web: https://www.belmont-ma.gov/office-of-planning-building
===================================================

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