Mixed-Use Development: A Happy Blending of Demographics and Smart Growth

By Rory R. Chen

Rory R. Chen, AIA, is associate, retail and distribution manager with the Dallas office of Carter & Burgess.

The author discusses trends in mixed-use developments such as smart-growth initiatives, community benefits and zoning challenges.

As Americans grow older and more ethnically diverse, the focus on housing for the suburban nuclear family is shifting. As well, members of the creative class and workers in the knowledge economy want character-filled places in which to live, work and shop with active art and music scenes, outdoor locations to explore and opportunities for interaction.

Moving beyond a conventional mall, the mixed-use town-center type development, that accommodates office, commercial and residential space, drives an increase in the number of people who are able to take advantage of the site. Entertainment and dining tenants attract a variety of customers who help turn these developments into desirable destinations.

Many cities and regional authorities around the U. S. are responding by encouraging mixed-use development, particularly in the urban core. Smart-growth initiatives are driving planning policy in cities from San Jose to Austin.

Communities that get the most economic benefit from this design have different goals and strategies, but all share one important trait: They have a clear vision of what they want to achieve. While the goal of encouraging development in order to boost the tax base is a common incentive, it must be carefully planned in order to balance growth with supporting infrastructure capacity and quality-of-life issues.

Some areas are facing regulatory barriers to such developments. The Brookings Institute has outlined several necessary areas of reform:

Growth management and land-use reforms States can exert control over the use of land at the edges of metropolitan areas, limiting growth into open land and promoting conservation.

Metropolitan governance Cities can only control what goes on within their borders: sprawl knows no bounds. For smart-growth strategies to be effective, governance needs to be extended across an entire region.

Infrastructure spending currently, infrastructure spending is skewed toward Greenfield development. States can refocus their infrastructure spending on redevelopment initiatives instead.

Zoning reform is a priority for cities seeking to increase mixed-use development. The Local Government Commission advocates zoning-code reform to overcome existing obstacles to smart growth. The commission presents several strategies adopted by cities around the U.S.:

Mixed-use and live/work codes These codes, called high-densities, are generally characterized by multi-story construction that use the ground floor for retail, service or office space and upper floors for residential.

Traditional neighborhood development The new urbanist-inspired approach relies on zoning to promote walkability and diversity.

Transit-area codes Centered around rail or surface transit, these codes promote higher densities near stops, stations or transfer nodes.

Cities have revised how zoning codes address streets, parking, design and administration. New street codes likely emphasize walkability in setting pavement width, streetscape features and the relationship of building facades to the street.

Mixed-use projects offer advantages for developers as well as challenges including:

Limited exposure Mixed-use projects that involve multiple developers such as housing, office, hotel and retail, can marshal the resources of multiple financing sources.

Activity 24/7 Successful mixed-use developments remain open and active.

Availability of real estate The developable land on urban edges is becoming more scarce and more expensive. Further, strict environmental requirements and state growth management policies make land harder to obtain. Meanwhile, compact packages in or near city centers can be purchased relatively inexpensively and translated into profitable developments. While a brownfield development can bring unexpected environmental challenges and community disputes, local government often gets behind these projects, providing additional support and sometimes tax incentives.

Market demand Developers are also seeing that mixed-use projects avoid some of the problems that plague single-use developments. Ultimately, it will be demand, not city encouragement that drives developers to undertake mixed-use projects. However, some developers, are less comfortable with the concept and tend to follow a mid-twentieth-century model of development centered on the automobile. Factors such as spiraling fuel costs, suburban congestion and long commutes have increased the need for mixed-use development.