What makes affordable housing affordable: mechanisms used to produce affordable housing near transit in the US
In our previous research on housing affordability near transit we identified categories/types of mechanisms that were used to stimulate the production of affordable housing. We categorized them as either top-down (inclusionary zoning/housing policies and ordinance, state laws, county and state level regulations and programs, etc.) or bottom-up (tax credit policies and programs, private-public partnerships, transit operators’ policies, fee waivers/abatement, public funding, private non-profit developers and CDCs, etc,) mechanisms based on how they were initiated. For this study, we propose to develop a more detailed description of each mechanism, provide successful examples (case studies) and estimate a level of affordability associated with each. In addition, we would like to search for other mechanisms that have been used to produce affordable housing but are not yet included in our list. We would also like to investigate which mechanisms are used in which state/region to look for tendencies and patterns. As part of our initial study, we identified all TODs in the country (that meet a set of eight criteria). To do so, we contacted metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), transit operators, and major cities in all (26) regions with at least two rail lines and asked each of them for a list of potential TODs. We received a list of 214 potential TODs. Half of them (107) met our eight criteria: (1) adjacent or nearly adjacent to BRT stations (maximum one block away), (2) dense and multistory, (3) mixed-use with residential and commercial (potentially including office uses), pedestrian-friendly with public space, (4) Built after BRT opened, (5) largely built out, (6) have their own parking facilities (i.e., self-contained parking), (7) master-planned or consist of buildings gathered in a cluster near transit station (not a single building). For this project, we will review the other 107 TODs (that did not meet our criteria but were characterized as TODs by MPOs, cities and transit agencies) to identify additional mechanisms used to produce affordable housing that have not yet been included in our list. To develop detailed descriptions and case studies for each, we will conduct interviews with selected TOD projects/developers/cities, and we will conduct a comprehensive document review. We will also investigate the level of affordability achieved by using each mechanism. For instance, projects developed by non-profit developers (i.e. BRIDGE Housing, Carlisle Development) or Community Development Corporations (i.e. East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, New Brunswick Development Corporation) are usually 100-percent affordable – all units are deed-restricted and affordable to households earning less than 80% of AMI and most often even less than 60% of AMI. In contrast, projects that are subject to inclusionary zoning policies usually offer no more than 5-10% of their units as affordable as many developers choose a payment in-lieu option. We will also examine to what extent each type of strategies/ tactics/ policies (i.e. LIHTC, non-profit developers or CDCs, inclusionary housing zoning, density incentives, etc.) contributes to the overall pool of designated affordable housing (DAH) units in TODs. From the initial study we learned that 43% of designated affordable units located in the 107 TODs examined were built using some sort of tax incentive, another 31 % were built by non-profit developers and CDCs, and the remaining 26% used one of the other mechanisms. Lastly, we will also investigate how the use of various mechanisms varies from state to state and across regions. Outputs will include 1) Local and national conference presentations 2) One or more peer-reviewed publications 3) A toolkit (“How to build more Affordable Housing in TODs – a toolkit of strategies for every place”) that will be electronically distributed to planners, developers, and other interested parties.
- Record URL:
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Supplemental Notes:
- Funding: $75,000 (USDOT) + $37,500 (matching funds) = $112,500 (total)
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Active
- Funding: $112500
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Contract Numbers:
69A3552348337
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Sponsor Organizations:
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
University Transportation Centers Program
Department of Transportation
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Managing Organizations:
Center for Equitable Transit-Oriented Communities (CETOC)
University of New Orleans
New Orleans, LA United States -
Project Managers:
Kline, Robin
Danton, Bob
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Performing Organizations:
University of Utah, Salt Lake City
City & Metropolitan Planning
201 South Presidents Circle
Salt Lake City, UT United States 84112University of New Orleans
Department of Planning and Urban Studies
New Orleans, LA United States 70148 -
Principal Investigators:
Ewing, Reid
Tian, Guang
Kaniewska, Justyna
- Start Date: 20241001
- Expected Completion Date: 20250930
- Actual Completion Date: 0
- USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Housing; Land use planning; Public transit; Transit oriented development
- Subject Areas: Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01928743
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Center for Equitable Transit-Oriented Communities (CETOC)
- Contract Numbers: 69A3552348337
- Files: UTC, RIP
- Created Date: Aug 26 2024 2:43PM