HomeMy WebLinkAboutA047 - Reading material from Zimmerman/Volk Memo
f Department of Planning & Housing
Caring People
Quality Programs
Fxceplional Service
TO: Mayor, City Council
FROM: Brian P. O'Conn ctor
DATE: January 23, 2001
SUBJECT: Reading Material from ZimmermanNolk on Housing Market Analysis
In the numerous discussions that staff has had with officials from ZimmermanNolk regarding the pace
of home sales in Somerset, they have advised that we provide background research materials to
members of the City Council. Todd Zimmerman and Laurie Volk have written the articles attached to
the memo, who are the principals of the firm that we have hired to assist with the home sales issue in
Somerset.
The article entitled Mass Markets, Housing, and the Illusion of Choice discusses the current trends in
housing construction, the emergence of a high degree of sameness in construction of homes, and the
false belief that buyers of homes today really have a choice.
The article entitled Development Dynamics describes the actual developer premiums that can be
obtained as a result of well-developed Traditional Neighborhood Development.
The last article entitled Confronting the Question of Market Demand for Urban Residential
Development discusses again the intricacies of conducting housing market analysis and the possibilities
that new housing types generate in terms of added market potential.
There is no action needed by Council regarding this material. This is being provided for your
information and insight into the issue of housing sales in Somerset.
BPO:clh
Attachment
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Development of typical American suburban housing has been based almost entire-
Massy upon a peculiar system of self reference.Guided only by the most recent market
successes, debt and equity funding for new residential development is obtained
kets only after sufficient"market comparables"have been documented(sec related artl•
Marce p.8).The simple logic of this system of comparables has led housing producers
—as well as many small to mid-sized lenders—to a heedless acceptance of the
notion that current production and marketing,mechanisms are meeting the desires
Housing (If not the needs) of housing consumers. The [a of this system seems to
reward lack of Innovation and the continued expansionnsion of
of developed land to satis-
fy less than half of the potential market for new housing. In this regard, market
research has succeeded too well.When builders tailor their products to the market•
place as defined by past practices,they perpetuate a cycle of blandness.They cele-
and the brate the same four-bedroom Texas Romantic unlbox—that four-bedroorn, two•
and•a-half bath center-hall house designed to appeal to everyone and no one.
u S O�1 of In addition, residential construction Is currently dominated by quite conservative
forces, influencing both the demand and supply sides of the housing equation,A
greater percentage of new dwellings are produced by publicly-traded entities; a
Choice larger-Than-normal percentage of new home buyers are transferee households,
those that are compelled to move.
When the 1991 Tax Reform Act(FIRRFA)caused a three-year disruption in the flow
of capital to smaller builders,larger builder/developers were able to increase slgnif-
ICandy their share of market and land control.The act severely constrained lending
by Laurie Volk a n d practices,including putting stringent limits on the size of outstanding loans to a sin-
gle borrower. Nome building companies with access to capital —those that are
publicly-traded and those that have special relationships with capital Institutions—
Todd Zimmerman gained market share in most regions,having the capital to buy land at just the time
when thousands of properties became available through the Resolution Trust
New American housing suffers from the same affliction affecting nearly every aspect Corporation and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
of our economy.The genuine diversity of goods previously available to most citizens
has been replaced by homogeneity;variety has been wrung out by the'efficiency" Publicly-traded home builders are the most conservative,six
C'-oriented of
of serving global mass markets.The impact has spread beyond the marketplace as suppliers,One public builder commissioned no fewer than six focus groups to look
at the potential for detached garages and got uniformly positive responses, The
the finance-driven economy rewards those entitles that are best at pushing off risk company has yet to offer detached garages because the approach is so different
and cost onto society at large;from seed crops to songbirds to suburbs,the Yemen-
dous variety of life is being winnowed down to only a few`successful"versions. that who[Is currently "succeeding" the marketplace. During the same period
that tax Code and banking changes gave
ve dominance to the most tonservadve of
The Baby Boom generation--those born between 1946 and 1964—formed the producers,the national recession gave dominance to the most conservative of hous-
most significant rationale for mass marketing in the history of the planet. They ing consumers—transferees.With house prices stagnant or even deflating in many
have Influence age-related institutions at every lifr stage,from maternity wards in
regions during the late'80s and early'90s, households that were not compelled to
the'S0s to the anticipated cremation boom;n the mid-21st century.Likewise,the move did not.Thus the transferees gained a greater than typical share of the mar-
post-war history of housing construction follows the Baby Boomers by Ilfestage— ket. Transferee households typically do not buy houses to live in; they buy houses
from their childhood In the GI Sill-supported housing tracts of the'40s through to fell later.A real estate broker axiom is that a house will sell faster if it does not
the apartment boom in the'70s,when Baby Boomers first left the nest,to the cur- have anything too personal,too individualized.Buyers expecting to be transferred
rent emphasis on detached, familyorltnWcl houses, with Baby Boomers at "full- again in the next couple of years buy houses that do not offend anyone,
nest"stage.
So baseline data defines only those houses that have sold in the relent past.
However, It Is precisely this b3wllne mentality that nearly brought the domestic
Housing ructed in America prior to World War exhibited extraordinary local auto Industry to its knees—building for what people have'always bought, >
and regionnalal diversity,ranging from simple frame houses In New England to stucco
haciendas and craftsman bungalows In California.Today,how-
ever,regional diversity is limited to two basic houses,the"colo-
nlal," which dominales most markets, and its one-and-a•half•
story counterpart in Florida and the Southwest.These two basic
houses are being built across the country in nearly every new t.
subdivision under construction; the "unibox" Is ascendant, \
"rambler"or a million-dollar man whether a modest Ion,is this fr ; + �' a` y J�
lack of homing i hnit r an end nrSult of"consumer demand,"aIr
�'y�+� f � � f t `ZP► Is4i�c�� 1't 1�rti f
clear Inulk ition OwL tilt'population,overwhelmed by the com- i *' ''1 ,•t� 7 �•{rt f , ;`' �'
plexities of modern life, wants to live In houses that took as
much like their neighbors as possible?We think not. •s art,✓✓ "*
There is a widespread misunderstanding that new housing In
i I letter to
most markets is a response to consumer desires, n a
this publication(-el. 1 no.2),the otherwise very astute Witold
Rybczynskl perpetuates this confusion, contending that �� �'•+ T, `���1 tit 7
-because most developers are relatively small, [commercial
housing] is chiefly a demand-driven market.' Professor
Rybczynski argues that"developers are in fact very responsive apanment oridge over Ian.
tali �
to buyers,and will build whatever it is that people want..." r;t 's� ,y e I 1l
In most cases land developers plat lots along the line of least
resistance,which is largely defined by zoning.in contrast to theti
agile,market-adaptive entities Professor Rybczynski sees,small
In the Norfoik rednelogmeni area if new lane runs inraugh the center of thin"sae'clock.Nouses Id the lane corners
. A..-..'a Mr k Innk•Ifka Raps,
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wllllutn regard W auto consumers' emerging qualify
and design concerns.The housing Industry,of course, t t
has real ddranldge5 over the auto industry (or more �/
precisely these days, the light truck and minivan
industry). The housing industry is greatly decentral• r7 l f
.00
led and much less capital intensive.
ftowever, it is the "rearview mirror" approach to
research that is in large measure responsible for the
dramatic boom/bust cycles to which wmerlcan real g }Rj i ■sta fa►�
[r Dili n7iTq'1T'estate has been prone.When development programs s' +.? P �
are based on what has succeeded in the past,they are _ �1 �f 11
susceptible to market shifts.This is akin to Steering a
_--
car by very carefully aligning Vte road in the rearview ` —•-' — - „_ — - _
mirror,the first curve could prove fatal. �-,-
The new town center for Ira Norfolk redevelopment area provides fen simple lots for mixed-use eaalopment.The mts arm meant
for reran on the ground floor and multi•stary homes or flats above.The arrangement makes it possible for shookeepers To Ilia
We believe Olat in the housing market today there is a upstairs.Design guidelines assure an eestneVe,legible public realm lancer OW,el.tsr-zreeta areaieeena Ten rl.nnv■.
growing hunger for variety, that there is disdain for
streets of •cookle•cutter"houses,that increasing num• must include both conventlonal supply-side and ers), these households characterize the demand for
bers of family households are no longer responsive to demographic analysis as well as detailed analysis of dlfferet housing options.When placed within the price
what Is being offered In the typical American subdlv6 consumer preferences, and rent context of the specific marketplace, these
lion Housing producers ignore this demand at their housing options—which may notyet exist In the mar-
peril, The best and most rigorous quaktative analysis In a classical supply/demand analysls of the potential ketp13Ce—become the optimum housing mix,
yields consistent results from new home buyers even for a redevelopment area in Norfolk, Virginia, we
in vrry cnnse votive markets: "We buy It(convention- found that, according to conventional analytic tech- The target-market analysis found that the potential
al new housing) because It's the only thing being nlques, there was limited demand for new housing absorption of a welbrealized and appropriately-priced
offered,not because we like it," units. Three different methodologies based on redevelopment of the Norfolk tract outstripped the
employment/household ratios, household age4strib- conventional projections of demand for new housing.
Determining the size of the demand for new housing ution, end household size projections ylelded the The neighborhood IS it Duany/Plater•Zyberk design
is a deceptively simple task. In a given year, the same results; demand was derived from the redistrib- that essentially restores the area to its traditional
dc-mand for new dwelling units equals the change of utlon of existing households rather than from the neighborhood pattern and provides housing options
the number of households plus the number of existing anticipation of any Increase in the number of house- for Norfolk households that simply do not currently
Ind occupied dwellings removed from service. In a holds. This conventional analysis could not measure exist. (See Figures 1 and 2.) Households that might
closOd system—say,a university with guaranteed on- demand for a housing option that did not currently otherwise move out to surrounding sprawling subur-
carripus housing_. new housing dernand Is quite easy exist in the marketplace, ban communities will have the option to stay in
to lorecast Almost all American housing markets, Norfolk; likewise, households moving Into the area
however,are fluld and borderiess.so even defining the Our fourth way of looking at demand, called forger- that might otherwise have settled for a suburban loca-
rnarket area can often be challenging, market analysis, puts human faces on the numbers, tion will have a new neighborhood option in Norfolk,
The technique has enabled us to look at the potential
Barring a significant natural disaster, the easy part is for untested housing types In markets as different as Our recommended housing programs, although very
proiccting how many dwelling units will be lost to fire an old city In New England and a new town in Hawaii. specific in mix and proportion of housing types,gen-
rsr <,ihor<ri,,t,Trr, to abartdonmenl, to conversion to The analysis includes a detailed examination of the erally include the proviso that new community or Will
another use, or to the urban renewal bulldozer. The lilcstyle characteristics and housing preferences of neighborhood design should recognize the Inevitabil-
ledt-ral government keeps statistics for loss of dwelling households who would be likely to move to the study Ity of change as household Characteristics and neigh-
unils Thal r,ut itr•projected with rcdsonable accuracy, site. We have classified 39 unique household types borhood dynamics evolve over times Housing's initial
(see Table below), according to life-stage: empty. Success requires detailed knowledge of probable first
Determining the character of the demand for new nesters and retirees,famliles,and younger singles and occupants;long-term Community health requires flex-
hnusiml, Itowrvrr, i, another matter. Demographers couples:and according to geographic locadon, met- ibility of design at both the dwelling and the neigh-
are coast-only sulpniscd by cite failure of their new rupuliian cities, metropolium suburbs, smalf borhood level. This recognition is a contrast to Ole
household formation, projections for the nation. cities/edge cities; town and country/exurbla, and typical rellance an niche markets to create highly-
tar-Household projections are often dramatically wrong rural/agrarian. geted housing types that lack the flexibility to respond
when made an the Ittad level, Projections, by definl- to Changing social and economic conditions,
tiorl,depend upon baseline data.However,when sig- Each of these groups has Its own specific eConomlc
nihcant shifts occur in a local or reglonat economy, and demographic characteristics, consumption pat- There are many Interlocking questions aDout the exist-
baseline data become irrelevant.valid, as well as its. terns,style Of living,and housing preferences,Taken In ing, inflexible enclaves of highly targeted housing,
Ustically significant, housing demand determinatlons the aggregate, after filtering for a variety of factors What will happen when the Baby Boomers completE
such as mobility, income and tenure(renters Ys.buy- the transition from the full-nest life stage to retire-
ment?Who will live in all those Texas Romantic uril-
HOUSEHOLD TYPES f UK fAlICIEf MARKET ANALYSIS boxes?Where will the Boomers retire?And what will
happen to all the age-restricted communities where
EMPTY-NESTERS AND RETIREES: FAMILIES! YOUNGER SINGLES&COUPLES the dwellings and the communities are gearad to ear.
The Social Register FuP-Nesf Suburbonites The VIPs lier generatlons7 We predict troubled times ahead for
Nouveau Money Kids'r'Us Fast-Track Professionals the mass market oriented housing producers,■
Affluent Empry Nesters Full-Nest Urbanites Suburban 5trivers
Posi-Wor Suburbon Pioneers Ethnic Families Generation X hurls Yolk end Todd Zimmerman are managing directors of
Blue-Collor Burton-Dons Cosmopolitan Families Urban Elite ZimmermanNalk Aeaoclnaa, a siren that eonduals urauplc
Comfortoblo Retirees Unibox Transferees Yuppies 8 Eggheads analysis lot the red Ii Industry including analyses for reel-
Urban Establiahmeni Traditionalists New lelachann et, spmmmunitorclil and rnd Anond ism inn in muter
Bohemians planned comtnunkles and nixed-arcs rsd■velopment
Rowhouse Empty-Nesters landed Gentry Urban Shivers limmermah has been active In multifamily and senior housing
Active Retirees Full-Nest Exurbanites Twentywmefhings rlevefapmenr IQ,IN-last twenty years.Volk speeialixea Is anely-
a Middle-Class Move-Downs Pillars of the Community Collegians slaef demographic.rnatkat and liM1Hyie pattersasrlth rsapsola
Z filue-Collor Retirees Small-Tort.rn Fomilies PC Pioneers real rune envelopment,
7 Mainstream Retirees Young Homesteaders
0 Mainstream Families
t: Heartland Families
Farmhovsg Familie
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VOLUME 11 THE COMING DISPOSAL
OF CORPORATE REAL ESTATE
Peter Linneman
NUMBER 2
REGIONALISM: THE FEASIBLE OPTIONS
FALL 1998 Joseph Gyourko
• - THE URBAN ECONOMIC DILEMMA
Anita A. Summers
THE SEATTLE COMMONS
David Sucher
INSIDE THE REVOLUTION
Douglas Crocker II
ESTATEWHARTON REAL
R E V
I
E
NEW COMMUNITIES,
NEW URBANISM
NOT DEVELOPERS, TOWN FOUNDERS
Andres Duane•
LESSONS FROM SEASIDE
Robert S. Davis
DEVELOPMENT DYNAMICS
Laurie Volk
Todd Zimmerman
(SOME) PEOPLE LIKE NEW URBANISM
Witold Rybczynski
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t
DEVELOPMENT
DYNAMICS
Den_1t1, D E N S I T Y A N D A „-ell-integrated
mix of land uses are important
integrated Prix of land principles of New Urbanism (NU),
also known as traditional neighborhood
uses in master-1)1anPied development, that can lead to significant
development advantages in new planned
cr;mmi4niries provide communities. Yet the potential advantages
and disadvantages of NU remain largely
derelr�pnr� rrt efficr� ni 1 misunderstood, not only by experienced
builders, developers and lenders, but also
.211d f1exibi1iri% by many advocates. The long-term value
enhancement that is often at the core of
the investment strategy of NU is antithet-
ical to the trend toward standardization
and securitization, in which the thinking
on the debt side can be aggressively short
L Au R t E vo t K term. Building the long-term residual
TODD ZIMMERMAN value associated xv-ith NU requires,
among other things, a long term. which is
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sources currently have no patience.
DEVELOPMENT
%,laster-planned communities have always ADVANTAGES
been difficult to finance, as large devel-
opments lack a clear, near-term exit A mixture of house types and market
strategy at competitive rates of return. segments is one of the hallmarks of a «'ell-
A greater understanding of NU executed NU property. The combination
would help investors and lenders make of density and diversity- creates a number
informed decisions. The advantages of of development advantages:. lower land
NU can be simply summarized: Density + cost per unit; lower infrastructure cost
Diversity - Efficiency + Flexibility. Density per unit; lower first-phase infrastructure
carries negative connotations for many cost; greater development flexibility; and
citizens and planning officials. Yet density lower costs for public services.
can be a virtue, creating the sorts
of places that the public appreciates.
vlanv of our most cherished historic Lower 1 a n d
tourist destinations were built at relatively cost per unit
high densities: Annapolis, Savannah, Since no buffers are required between
Charleston, New Orleans. However, to housing segments, the close proximity of
be a virtue, density must be responsive different residential types leads to more
not onlv to market fundamentals, but also efficient land yields. In NU plans there
to location, climate, topography and cul- are no collector roads without de�el-
rural heritage. Above all, density must be opable frontage; for that reason the street
combined with a well-integrated mix of network also contributes to the lower
uses, building types, housing types, and land cost per unit.
lot sizes.
One of the best examples of an artful
blend of housing types is a 1.4-acre block Lower i n f r a s t r u c t�� r e
of a new planned community, Kentlands cost per unit
ng tree-planting strips, sidewalks
in Gaithersburg, Nlarvland. The block includi
includes 21 dwelling units: a few small and alleyways, a NU community can
accessory aP artments at monthly rents have higher infrastructure cost per linear
>r�etw•een S750 and $900, rowhouses that foot of street than the typical conven-
tional subdivision. However, due to the
sold for approximately $250,000, and
l higher density, the cost per dwelling unit
large detached houses that sold for up to
is actually lower. In a study of costs con-
S5()0,000. The block's net density of 15
units to the acre is offset by alley-loaded ducted for the Canada Mortgage and
Housing Corporation, a portion of
parking, and a location on one Kentland's g p
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near Ottawa, was redesigned using NU Greater d e v e l o p yn e n t
principles (Essiambre-Phillips-Desjardins flexibility
Associates Ltd. et al:, Conventional and Optimally designed streets and blocks can
Alternative Development Patterns; Phase accommodate a range of housing types
l: Infrastructure Costs, Canada Mortgage with the same lot depth, from small apart-
and Housing Corporation, 1997). The ment buildings and rowhouses to low-
higher total infrastructure cost of the density, detached houses. If market
new plan was more than offset by the sig- demand shifts, housing types on any given
nificandy higher unit yield, and resulted street can shift in response without the
in a 24 percent lower infrastructure cost need for elaborate changes. Conventional
per dwelling unit. master-planned communities are based on
separation of housing types in separate
development "pods," with road layouts
Lower first-phase specific to each type of pod. Changing just
i n f ra s t r u c t u r e cost a portion of a pod is difficult. However,
A common perception is that NU prop- when blocks are designed with common
ernes require heavy up-front costs. lot depths, changes in market preferences
Press accounts typically focus on the can be accommodated simply by adjusting
amenities that contribute to a "sense of lot widths. For example, the lots sur-
community," but ignore the fact that rounding Nursery Park at Harbor Town
these amenities are common to most in Memphis underwent just such a transi-
master-planned communities. In fact, tion. The relatively large lots surrounding
first-phase infrastructure cost can be the park were reduced in size when the
lower in an NU master-planned com- developer realized that smaller lots were
munity. Conventional communities not only marketable but preferred by a
usually require the creation of entire number of buyers; utility lines were ripped
pods and collector roads. In the first out to accommodate the larger number of
phase of an NU development, the only lots. The net gain justified the extra
investment required is the completion expense. Even though the smaller lots
of both sides of a single street. This individually had a lower value than the
street serves a variety of housing types larger ones they replaced, their aggregate
in close proximity, perhaps including a value was greater after the replarring. A
small formal civic space such as a similar development flexibility extends to
green or plaza. Not only are initial buildings. For example, the "mansion"
infrastructure costs reduced, but the prototype—based on buildings that have
virtue of density is demonstrated at the made up the commercial fabric of
same time. Thus the street itself func- American small towns—is often used in
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uses on a single for hype. One NU prototype THE REVENUE
is three floors with a total of 7,500 square SIDE
feet that can be a small office building,
office or housing over retail, or a small bed- Although the cost impact of density,
and-breakfast inn. The essential point is that diversity, efficiency and flexibility is sig-
buildings are strictly regulated in form, but nificant, NU developments can have an
eery flexible in use. They are an increment even greater impact on revenue. Analysis
of development that the smallest develop- of several new communities that have
ment entities can easily manage, yet each generated sufficient performance data
prototype building supports the quality suggests three inter-related market
and character of the downtown fabric. advantages of a well-executed NU devel-
Of course, flexible zoning and land-use opment: a housing value premium.
regulations are required. a higher, long-term value for income
property; and a location premium.
Lower costs for
public services Housing
The Canada Mortgage and Housing value premium
Corporation study examined life-cycle A well-designed NU landplan can add
costs over a 75-year period (Hemson value to residential development, either
Consulting Ltd.. Conventional and through unit price premiums, increased
Alternative Development Patterns; sales paces, or some combination of the
Pba-e 11: Municipal Revenues. Canada two. A recent study of 1,850 sales in the
Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Kentlands market area attributed a pre-
1997). The public sector costs relating to mium of approximately- 12-13 percent of
nc�n-residential uses were 48 percent the purchase price of single-family hous-
IoNver in the NU plan compared to the es in Kentlands directly to NU principles
conventional plan, with costs for residen- (C. Tu & M. Eppli. Valuing the New
tial uses 5 percent lower. The most Urbanism: The Case of Kentlands,
significant savings related to roads, 1998). The analysis used a hedonic pric-
stormwater management, and water ing model in which size, construction
distribution. However, the study found quality- and other variables were held
that the NU plan was not always more constant. It identified a 524,000 to
efficient. For example, the cast of 530,000 price premium for Kentlands
Snow clearing was projected to be nearly houses compared to the houses located
fire times higher in the NU plan because in nearby conventionally designed com-
of the snore numerous intersections munities. At Seaside—the NU resort vil-
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annual price escalation of the various lot Higher long- term
types ranges from 9 percent for water- value f o r
i
front lots to 87 percent for interior lots. income property
The market value of the waterfront lots A well-designed environment enhances
was widely recognized at the outset. the value of all income property. Once
flovvever, the value of the interior lots established, retail and office uses increase
i
was created solely through the quality of in value, benefiting from the synergy of
the built environment. A 1982-1997 uses. Institutional investors are beginning
comparison of Seaside resales with an to target assets in locations that take
adjacent conventionally-planned property, advantage of this synergy. Decades of
i
Seagrove Beach, found an average annu- investment experience has shown that I
al appreciation rate of 40.4 percent for frequently- a stand-alone "A''-quality
Seaside lots compared to 26.0 percent apartment or retail property slips to "B''
for Seagrove lots, and an average annual and then to "C," as the property ages
appreciation rate of 20.5 percent for and new development moves away.
Seaside houses compared to 17.9 percent However, according to Emerging Trends
for Seagrove houses. Seaside buyers have in Real Estate 1998 (Equitable Real j
reaped similar rewards, with same-house Estate Investment .'Management, Inc., &
i
resales showing a 20 percent annual Real Estate Research Corporation), real
appreciation and same-lot resales appre- estate assets in mixed-use central bus'-
dating at a 40 percent annual rate. ness districts of healthy 24-hour cities are
The NU premium can add to land now considered to be less risky than sin-
value. For example, the average 12,000- gle-use assets in their suburbs. Assets
square-foot lots at Newpoint near within NU communities are similarly
Beaufort, South Carolina are half the expected to retain value,
size of typical lots in the area. Yet
Newpoinr's waterfront lots have sold for
an average of $1.0.10 per square foot, Location premium
compared to $3.77 per square foot for The residents of existing NU communi-
Nvaterfront lots at Cottage Farm, a com- ties reflect the long-standing American
parable, adjacent property. Interior lots dynamic of selecting neighborhood first
at Newpoint sold for an average of and house second. ERE Yarmouth (now
i
S3.36 per square foot, compared to Lend Lease Real Estate Investments), the 1
$1 .77 per square foot for interior lots at nation's largest manager of real estate for
Cortagc Farm. Revenue per net acre is pension funds, has found that buyers are
84 percent higher at Newpoint, at willing to pay more for houses in NU
$193,000 compared with $105,000 at communities, explaining that "It's the
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which suddenly has renewed attraction
for an increasing number of American
suburb dwellers."
In conclusion, to be effective, NU
development must be approached as
pragmatically as any real estate venture.
Once the advantages inherent in the form
are better understood by developers and
investors the New Urbanism will move
more rapidly from the margins to the
mainstream.
i
I
I
i
01/22/01 MON 15.32 [T%/R% NO 64001
Confronting the Question of Market Demand
For Urban Residential Development
Laurie Volk and Todd Zimmerman
Zimmerman/Volk Associates, Inc.
Abstract
This article considers new methods for determining the market demand for urban
residential development. Traditional supply/demand analysis often underestimates
demand because it ignores the potentially significant impact of newly introduced housing
supply in urban areas on settlement patterns, particularly when that supply is specifically
targeted to match the housing preferences and economic capabilities of draw area
households. By using methods such as target marketing, the demand for different types of
residential development can be estimated for neighborhoods that currently feature no such
housing.
Although demand for urban housing cannot be quantified, the characteristics of the
various types of households that represent the potential market for urban housing can be
determined. An understanding of these household characteristics can guide the public and
private sectors toward adopting strategies for developing and sustaining urban
neighborhoods. The most difficult challenge is to marshal economic forces through proper
positioning, timing, and phasing to exert a positive influence on urban settlement
patterns.
Keywords: Markets; Housing; Development/Revitalization
Introduction
"Demand" for housing is often an illusory concept, particularly when
applied to urban neighborhoods. The depth and breadth of the potential
market for urban housing, however, can be determined and is often
substantial, even in cities that have seen little or no new housing produced
in years.
Historically, urban areas have experienced population loss, often severe,
and conventional supply/demand analyses typically project that trend to
continue, with the result that forecasts of demand are often minimal, if not
negative. Conventional supply/demand introduced housing s supply in urbaes ignore the n potentially
significant impact of newly
(This paper is a work in progress and is not intended for attribution_ It may not be quoted,
cited, or duplicated without the permission of the Fannie Mae Foundation. The opinions
expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Fannie
Mae Foundation or its officers.)
® Fannie Mae Foundation 2000.
All Rights Reserved.
iDEC-29-00 03 :02 PM ZIMMERMAN,-VOLK ASSOC INC 908 735 4751 P_ 03
Confronting the Question of Demand for Urban Residential Development
settlement patterns, particularly when that supply is specifically targeted to
match the housing preferences and economic capabilities of draw area
households.
Research Methodologies
All too often, research methodology limits the scope of possible results.
s
c For
example, if housing market analysis is focused only on the
a pP
ide—
i.e., values and occupancies of existing dwelling units (typically, adjacent
neighborhoods) and values and
absorption
locatio s)s thenof e the e"demand
idential
construction (typically, in greenfields
forecast" will be limited to those housing types that are currently available.
Even the most rigorously applied supply/demand methodology rarely
reveals the actual scope of new housing potential. This is because most
"market analysis for real estate uses general marketing
ti concerns theory; however,
os ever,
out of necessity, it must consider the geographicalP
concentrations of supply and diffused demand" (Grissom and Liu 1994, 79).
Rarely is this mismatch adequately resolved.
Because of this mismatch, demand for new housing in a specific location
cannot be definitively determined through research, however rigorous. The
multiple factors that enter into the housing decision cannot be statistically
isolated even through the most complex empirical analysis. Thoughtful
observers of residential settlement patterns know that, when it comes to
housing analysis, rigorous empirical inquiry only leads to additional
questions.
Although demand for urban housing cannot be quantified,
the
characteristics of the various types of households that represent the
potential market for urban housing can be determined. An understanding
of these household characteristics can guide the public and private sectors
toward adopting strategies for developing and sustaining urban
neighborhoods. The most difficult challenge is to marshal economic forces
through proper positioning, timing, and phasing to exert a positive
influence on urban settlement patterns.
The challenge is an important one. The creation, re-establishment,
restoration, or enhancement of neighborhoods is the foundation of any
rational initiative for sustainable regional development. Without the
connections between residents and shopping, employment, and recreation,
infrastructure and resource efficiencies will continue at the current low
levels.
Supporters of the status quo maintain that e if eofwere a genuine
i is market
b
for urban housing, there would already plenty targeted, single-use
current leap-frogging pattern of lr the
ow-density, narrowly ply g continuin "the
development still argue that the current pattern is simply
Fannie Mae Foundation 2000 Annual Housing Conference 2
Tl,a Market Power of Emerging Communities
Confronting the Question of Demand for Urban Residential Development
relentless outward expansion of cities into suburbs and beyond" (Gordon
and Richardson 1997, 75-76), This thinking suggests that we are ultimately
headed toward some sort of housing entropy, in which every household is
equidistant from every other household, and all community and commerce
is experienced in cyberspace out of necessity.
Those same supporters also cite as "empirical evidence" decades of
American household movement to environments characterized by steadily
decreasing densities. However, this "evidence" is largely meaningless. In
most metropolitan areas, American households buy into the current
settlement patterns because they lack genuine choice.
Housing production generally follows the path of least resistance: easy-to-
finance and easy-to-build units on land that is environmentally "clean," in a
"good" location in a metropolitan area that is experiencing reasonable job
growth, for which it is deemed appropriate zoning and approvals can be
readily obtained. The builders and developers follow the well-defined and
efficient delivery system of housing as "product" that is the end result of a
long conspiracy of good intentions, from the Euclid zoning decision to the
Americans with Disabilities Act. This usually translates into the efficient
"unibox" detached houses on former agricultural land.
There is more residential development in fringe locations, then, simply
because it is significantly easier to accomplish than development on urban
sites: Exurban tracts are larger; entitlements are less complicated; and a
majority of acquisition, development, and construction lenders have a high
comfort level with single-use greenfields development. It is the higher
degree of difficulty that has made urban residential development a "niche
product." This does not mean that urban housing can find only a "niche
market." Compact urban development is beginning to be embraced by too
many builders, developers, financial institutions, and government
agencies—from local to federal—to remain marginalized as a "niche."
Supply-Side Research in Urban Locations
Conventional housing market analysis generally does not attempt to
address the specific needs or desires of the increasingly diverse pool of
housing consumers. Supply/demand analysis is generally the analytical
tool of choice. But the type of supply/demand analysis that often passes for
new housing research is nothing more than an analysis of the market
performance of currently marketed subdivisions and master-planned
communities, combined with simple, often marginally related
demographic data, If forecasts of household change are included, they are
usually straight baseline projections, which assume that the recent pattern
of change in the numbers of households will continue into the future_
Analysis of supply-side data can range from rudimentary to quite
sophisticated. Nevertheless, most new housing research is predicated on
Fannie Mae Foundation 2000 Annual Housing Conference 3
The Market Power of Emerging Communities
Confronting the Question of Demand for Urban Residential Development
two very questionable premises: 1) that the change in the number of
households will continue the trend of the recent past, and 2) that the only
housing types that will meet with market acceptance are those that have
demonstrated sales success in comparable locations.
Reliance on supply-side analysis often leads to local myopia. Builders, real
estate brokers, and other real estate observers are often subject to an
antiurban bias, justifying their opinions with supply-side data.
The distortion of supply-side analysis is often aggravated in urban areas by
the mismatch of existing urban housing units and the households that
have the potential to move to urban neighborhoods. In some cities—for
example, St. Louis—the market feasibility of new housing construction has
been dismissed because large houses already existing in the city do not sell
despite prices that are quite low. In these instances, the issue is not the
prices, but rather the sizes of the existing houses. A significant number of
the grand older urban houses have hundreds, even thousands of square feet
more than the market really requires; this is particularly true when the
market consists of young singles and childless couples who are seeking
convenience and location rather than space. An understanding of the
characteristics of the potential market for urban housing, then, can reveal
these mismatches.
The heavy reliance on competitive sales data has led the housing industry
into a peculiar self-referential inward spiral, in which the houses of many
builders are converging into amazingly similar units. Continued ad
absurdum, this convergence means that in the future there will be just one
house type built in America. A benefit of this scenario of monotony, one
would assume, is that production would be very efficient.
Academicians generally dismiss these limited housing research studies:
".An recent years the quality of market studies in real estate has been
widely criticized" (Myers and Beck 1994, 259). However, despite many
decades of scholarly analysis of empirical real estate-related data, few of the
scholarly research techniques have been adopted by housing developers.
Only real estate portfolio analysts and acquisition managers have empirical
tools on which they can rely. Just as supply/demand analysis often works
quite well in describing the market for packaged goods, if carefully applied,
it can also provide useful insights into performance projections of
investment-grade income-producing real estate assets.
In contrast, those seeking practical tools with which to gauge the potential
for new residential initiatives--public and private sectors alike—have, as
often as not, been led astray by supply/demand analysis. The emphasis
often placed on unquantifiable "demand" can be misguided.
Forecasting the demand for new housing is so challenging because
housing dynamics are fundamentally different than those of other
consumer durable items. Unlike other purchase transactions of consumer
Fannie Mae Foundation 2000 Annual Housing Conference 4
The Market Power of Emerging Communities
Confronting the Question of Demand for Urban Residential Development
goods (from impulse items to big-ticket items), housing is a product that is
fixed in place requiring that the purchaser must move to acquire it. As
Dowell Myers has pointed out (Myers 1990), this creates the unique causal
relationship between population and housing in which the arrow of
causation changes direction depending upon geographic scale.
The relationship between the demand for housing and the number of new
households may vary significantly depending on scale. At the broadest
geographic scale (metropolitan statistical area and above), housing
demand—and its corollary, the number of new housing units that is
required to respond to that demand—is derived primarily from projected
increases in the number of households; barring wholesale demolition, fire
loss, and abandonment of existing housing stock, new housing is not likely
to be absorbed without a corresponding increase in households. At the local
level, however, and assuming a neighborhood's housing units are at
"stabilized full occupancy," there can be no increase in households if there
are no new housing units built in which they can be housed.
Housing, therefore, is unique among consumer items; because it is fixed in
place, supply can create its own "demand," the results of which are seen in
the low-density settlement pattern of the past several decades. However,
this peculiar dynamic of "build it and they will come" can only occur when
those new housing units are well-matched to the characteristics of the
households that comprise the potential market. The success of dispersed,
relatively low cost per square foot detached housing has been its match with
the demographic bulge of family households that is now beginning to wane
as the Baby Boom generation—those born between 1946 and 1964—begin to
move from "full nest" to "empty nest" life stage. (The recent remarkable
increase of high-priced detached houses is simply matching the
expectations of the Baby Boom households in the peak earning years—the
first generation in American history in which it is common to have two
incomes contributing to those peak earnings.)
Survey Research in Urban Locations
The critical question for urban housing, then, becomes not so much the
quantities of market demand but rather the qualities of the market
potential.
Because of the lack of meaningful "comparables" in urban locations, the
methodology most often employed to determine both quantity and
characteristics of the market for urban housing has been some kind of
survey research. Survey research can be effective if its objectives are set
with the recognition that what can be quantified is not market "demand"
but rather market "potential." The two pitfalls of survey research regarding
urban housing (or any housing, or any survey for that matter) have to do
with the sample—i.e., who one asks—and questions—i.e., what one asks.
Fannie Mae Foundation 2000 Annual Housing Conference 5
The Market Power of Emerging Communities
Confronting the Question of Demand for Urban Residential Development
A sample can be biased despite the most rigorous efforts. Projecting survey
results based solely on sample demographics can be perilous. Households
with virtually identical demographics can have very different attitudes. If a
sample does not have the same cultural values as the population as a
whole, survey results could over- or underestimate the potential market for
urban housing. Some cultural values have correlated positively with a
preference for compact and urban neighborhoods. For example, households
that place greater value on experience than on material goods are more
likely to value the diversity and cultural opportunities associated with
urban living (Rey 1996).
A more serious flaw with survey research is the difficulty of conveying an
appropriate image of an urban neighborhood. Questions are often vaguely
worded, asking the respondent's attitude toward living "downtown" or "in
the city." Often the vagueness is purposeful, to allow the most open
interpretation and least bias from a population that has little familiarity
with urban living. There is no single urban residential archetype; the
neighborhoods of American cities vary greatly in both density and
character, from the detached houses of Charleston to the apartment
buildings of Manhattan. The fundamental problem is that many, if not
most, Americans, lacking an urban frame of reference, are unable to
conceive of an urban neighborhood as a habitable place. Many suburbanites
have simply no idea what a stable urban neighborhood would look like or be
like; for them, the word "urban" still conjures images of crime, congestion,
and blight.
If these limitations and difficulties are recognized, well-designed survey
research is probably the least complicated conventional methodology that is
capable of providing approximations of both the quantity and
characteristics of households that make up the potential market for urban
housing.
Professionally facilitated qualitative research, including focus groups and
interviews, can help distinguish the characteristics of potential urban
residents and can determine individual unit and neighborhood preferences
at a relatively detailed level. Even the best qualitative researchers, however,
require guidance in assembling panels or prospective interviewees; they
must, in effect, know who the market is in order to learn about it in detail.
No qualitative research is capable of determining the depth and breadth of
the market.
Target Market Methodology
It is from analysis of migration trends and mobility rates that the depth and
breadth of the pothouseholds move into amarket Migration area, an from here
quantifies how manyany determined.
Fannie Mae Foundation 2000 Annual Housing Conference 6
The Market Power of Emerging Communities
Confronting the Question of Demand for Urban Residential Development
they are moving. Mobility rates quantify those households that move within
a market area.
The number of households that could potentially move to a given location in
a given year describes the practical upper limit on market potential.
Migration analysis need focus only on in-migration, rather than out-
migration or net migration. Net migration is of little consequence even
when a local market has been stigmatized by precipitous household loss.
For example, the cities of St. Louis and Detroit have both experienced
dramatic out-migration; nevertheless, there is still market potential for the
downtown areas of both cities. Thousands t numbes have households8ply beenmove o both
lower
cities every year; until recently, hose
than the numbers of households that have moved out.
While migration and mobility analysis provide a means for determining the
quantity of those households that could potentially move to an urban
location, the more difficult task is determining their qualities and
characteristics, and how those qualities and characteristics influence
housing preferences.
Some household characteristics can be obtained through conventional
research techniques, as noted above. Triggered by our work,
geodemographic analysis, a methodology not previously applied to housing,
has been proposed as a means of identifying which middle-inc
ome
suburbanites have the potential to relocate to central cities (Lang, Hughes,
and Danielsen 1997). Even without the refinements of migration and
mobility analysis, target marketing ciwas tes with a dund to e per understanding
conventional
data, and to have the potential to pride
of their market advantages.
Over the past decade, we have used our proprietary target market
methodology, which combines geodemographic data with migration
ot and
mobility analysis, to determine the depth and breadth of the p
tial
market, and the optimum market
position
n fornewmarket. development or
redevelopment based on the e s
It is important to emphasize that the supply-side context cannot be ignored;
the supply-side context provides benchmarks of housing value. Although
proposed new housing units need not be hostage to the supply-side context,
neither can new construction be positioned in ignorance of supply.
Fannie Mae Foundation 2000 Annual Housing Conference 7
The Market Power of Emerging Communities
Confronting the Question of Demand for Urban Residential Development
Case Study:Norfolk,Virginia
Until the groundbreaking of Heritage at Freemason Harbor in 1998, very
little new housing construction had occurred in or adjacent to downtown
Norfolk since the 1970s. The city's household population had dropped by
more than 10,000 households over the same period, convincing most market
analysts that there was little demand for new housing units anywhere in
the city, much less the downtown. However, the Norfolk Redevelopment
and Housing Authority had acquired three city blocks adjacent to downtown
and sought a private developer to produce a mix of rental and for-sale
housing on the site. Connecticut-based Collins Enterprises, the developer,
asked Zimmerman/Volk Associates to undertake a target market analysis
of the site in part because local experts were highly skeptical that there was
any market for housing on the site, in part because that very small market
was thought to be for very large units at relatively low rents and prices, and
in part because the only "comparables" were new resort-oriented
condominiums in Virginia Beach, a much more suburban residential
environment,
The housing program proposed by Zimmerman/Volk Associates for
Heritage at Freemason Harbor was derived from our proprietary target
market analysis, which determines not only the depth and breadth of the
potential market, but also who those households are, where they are
moving from, what their housing and lifestyle preferences are, and how
much they can afford to pay.
The foundation of our methodology is the fact that, on average, between 16
and 20 percent of American households move each year, primarily because
of changes in lifestyle, economics, or family status. Although household
mobility rates vary depending on location (westerners move at much
higher rates than Easterners), by tenure (renters move more than owners),
and by age (the young move more than the old), those moving households
represent the broad potential market for housing, both existing units and
new construction.
The target market methodology is actually quite straightforward. After an
evaluation of the site, Zimmerman/Volk Associates determines where the
potential buyers and renters will move from (draw areas), who currently
lives in those draw areas (target household groups), how many of those
households are likely to move to the site (market potential), hat their
their
housing preferences (tenure and housing type) ga
nd alternatives (other housing properties) are.
Field investigation and taxpayer migration data, obtained from the Internal
Revenue Service, provide the framework for the delineation of the draw
areas. U.S. Bureau of the obtained fromnsus daa,Claritast Incc�s used t I
ZM
geodemographic data o determine the
Fannie Mae Foundation 2000 Annual Housing Conference 8
The Market Power of Emerging Communities
Confronting the Question of Demand for Urban Residential Development
number of households in each target market group that will move from one
residence to another within a specific jurisdiction in a given year.
In this case, migration analysis showed that, in addition to households
already living in the city of Norfolk, households moving from outside the
city comprised a significant segment of the potential market for new
housing units in downtown Norfolk. Households moving from Virginia
Beach represented approximately 20 percent of all households moving into
Norfolk each year, and households moving from Chesapeake
approximately 5 percent. The remainder of the households were moving
from cities or counties that, individually, comprised well below 4 percent of
Norfolk's annual total in-migration.
The result was that more than 5,100 households represented the potential
market for new and existing housing units in the city of Norfolk in the year
of the analysis. The specific analysis of those households is based on
geodemographic segmentation; in this instance, Claritas' PRIZM analysis,
where clusters of households are grouped according to a variety of
significant factors, ranging from basic demographic characteristics, such
as income qualification and age, to less frequently considered attributes
such as mobility rates, lifestyle patterns, and compatibility issues. We have
refined the analysis of these househo relatedeto housing tpreferenceso and
of
more than 500 survey data points
consumer and lifestyle characteristics.
From that target market analysis, it was determined that not all of those
5,100 households represented the potential market for housing in downtown
Norfolk; some target groups—particularly traditional families,
incomes—
currently living in very
o more suburban,elessand those with expensive areas of Norfolk but
were likely to move t
not to the city's downtown core.
However, more than 1,100 target households were determined to comprise
the depth and breadth of the potential market for new housing units on the
downtown Norfolk site, a number considerably higher than local estimates.
As might be expected, the potential market was dominated by younger
singles and couples: the career- and convenience-oriented VIPs, Fast-
Track Professionals, and Yuppies & Eggheads, and the "indicator species"
of emerging hip neighborhoods, the New Bohemians. The potential market
also included affluent older households, from the sophisticated Urban
Establishment to the Post-War Suburbani Pioneers,
10 children have home.
moving
from suburbia to downtown after the youngest
Perhaps surprisingly, the potential market also includedFull-Nest a percenrbanit agand
of
compact family households: both the city sa vy
Fannie Mae Foundation 2000 Annual Housing Conference 9
The Market Power of Emerging Communities
Confronting the Question of Demand for Urban Residential Development
Cosmopolitan Families, as well as Unibox Transferees, who typically rent a
quality apartment while waiting to take occupancy of their new house.'
Our determination of the composition of the potential market—more than
53 percent younger singles and couples, approximately 28 percent empty
nesters and retirees, and 19 percent compact families—was also at odds
with the local experts, who perceived the market to be considerably smaller
and almost entirely composed of older couples.
The market performance of Heritage at Freemason Harbor has borne out
the analysis. Tenant and buyer profiles quite closely reflect the distribution
of the market analysis. Although the property has
achieved
cieein ts and sales
theNorfolk
prices dramatically higher than other new construction
area, there is a waiting list for the existing rental apartments, the third
and final rental building was almost entirely pre-leased months
hsbefore
construction, and nearly all of the for-sale units were pre-sold several
months before groundbreaking.
Perhaps the most dramatic application of the detailed market knowledge
provided by the target market analysis was the success of the "maisonette"
units—direct-entry apartments facing Boush Street, a high-traffic arterial.
These apartments have become a desirable "address" for urban residents
and have transformed the public perception of Boush Street from an
inhospitable highway to a comfortable urban boulevard.
Other Significant Urban Market Issues
A thorough understanding of urban
1aI Buesdynamics
rangehas
fromimplications
physical
far beyond typical supply/demand concerns
form to phasing:
There is no single housing formula.
Seeing urban markets as a function of market potential specific to an area
means that one must accept that there is no formulaic housing mix to
attract new households to urban neighborhoods. Good neighborhood
revitalization must be responsive to local market dynamics—i.e., the
preferences of the different household groups that make up the market for
new urban housing. Household mix—the proportions of empty nesters,
younger singles and couples, and families that make up the new housing
market—can be very different from city to city and from neighborhood to
The nomenclature in this paragraph was developed by zimmermanNolk Associates,
which renamed the Claritas PRIZM household groups to emphasize housing propensities
and integrate survey data into the target groups, descriptions.
Fannie Mae Foundation 2000 Annual Housing Conference 10
The Market Power of Emerging Communities
Confronting the Question of Demand for Urban Residential Development
neighborhood. Two cities that are commonly considered to have very
similar dynamics—St. Louis and Detroit—in fact, have very different
markets: Detroit's new housing market is predominantly family
households, albeit nontraditional ones, whereas St. Louis has much higher
proportions of empty nester/retirees and younger singles and couples and
comparatively few families.
The market potential for urban housing need not be a "zero-sum game."
A corollary to the concept that housing supply can create its own demand is
that, citywide, the creation of new housing in any one neighborhood need
not be a "zero-sum game." This is an important issue when many city
neighborhoods perceive themselves to be in competition for a limited
number of households. New housing can be introduced into an urban
neighborhood without cannibalizing other emerging neighborhoods. The
key is neighborhood positioning. Careful positioning is second nature to the
best developers of master-planned communities, but is usually ignored by
municipalities and sponsors of neighborhood revitalization. Emerging
neighborhoods that target the proper potential market can change housing
dynamics in the entire city. When new housing options are created within a
city, these new units can capture households that otherwise might have
settled elsewhere. They may also retain households that, because of a
lifestage or economic change, might otherwise have moved out of the city.
New construction has the power to attract the potential market.
A powerful rationale for an increasing number of households to leave
familiar urban neighborhoods is the desire for newly constructed housing.
In the same regard, introducing newly constructed housing into an
existing neighborhood usually presents an attractive alternative to former
residents of the area who have previously moved out of the city. The expense
and aggravation of continued repairs to oh nehousing
oasi 1 gnCe9 in kitchens can helm
and
many households; new construction—wit PP
baths, floorplans that match modern lifestyles, and ample closet space in
the bedrooms—becomes increasingly attractive.
Phasing can influence the market.
To attract the potential market, new urban housing ic nstrucwhatorm housing
tion must be
seen not only in spatial terms—i.e., wherewhen each housing type
should be built—but also in temporal terms—i.e., suburban
should be introduced thefirstphase
the can make ort, Just as with any break the development. What is at
development, the first
Fannie Mae Foundation 2000 Annual Housing Conference 11
The Market Power of Emerging Communities
Confronting the Question of Demand for Urban Residential Development
stake is more than the obvious efficiency of infrastructure and a careful
matching of expenses with revenues. The first phase can have an impact
on the potential market as well.
The first phase must consider the image that is presented to the community
at large. The type of housing built at the property's most visible edge must
be very carefully targeted; it will convey most powerfully the character of
the neighborhood to the potential market.
Finally, the tenure mix of early phases can be critical. Despite the
widespread objective of bringing homeownership into the city, rental
housing can be an excellent first phase for neighborhood revitalization.
Rentals can quickly transform neighborhoods, particularly those that have
nonresidential elements. Rental units are leased at a much faster pace
than for-sale units are sold. Renters typically spend more time in the public
realm because they are generally younger and their units are generally
smaller than those of homeowners.
The public realm should be matched to the market.
Just as it is important to provide a range of housing matched to the
potential market, it is equally important to provide a public realm that
meets the cultural and leisure interests of that market. The commerce and
culture of urban locations usually attracts young singles and childless
couples, both young and older.
Family households may also appreciate these attributes, but schools and
security issues frequently deter households from remaining once children
appear. Cities can retain families if they provide the three significant
community elements that are required to establish or sustain urban
residential neighborhoods—safe and secure streets, sufficient green space,
and good schools.
The urge to suburbanize should be avoided.
Knowledge of the characteristics of households that have the potential to
populate urban neighborhoods provides arfi t l important
porta urban reinterpretation insight-
ns erpreta on will
be attracted to appropriate urban design, places as much emphasis
of
low-density suburban forms. Good urban designp la a on creating quality
on creating quality streets and public places
buildings.
Fannie Mae Foundation 2000 Annual Housing Conference 12
The Market Power of Emerging Communities
L
Confronting the Question of Demand for Urban Residential Development
Design should not signal socioeconomics.
For urban neighborhoods to attract and sustain a diverse mix of
households, a neutral socioeconomic design is required. The affluent will
live in mixed-income neighborhoods if the occupants' income level or
tenure is not discernible from the street. This can be achieved through
consistent construction quality and the mixing of rental and for-sale
buildings and units throughout the community.
Authors
Laurie Volk and Todd Zimmerman are partners in the research and analysis firm
Zimmerman/Volk Associates in Clinton, NJ.
References
Gordon, Peter, and Harry W. Richardson. 1997. The Destiny of Downtowns: Doom or
Dazzle? Lccsk Review for Real Estate Development and Urban Transformation 3(2):63-76.
Grissom, Terry V., and Crocker H. Liu. 1994. The Search for a Discipline. The Philosophy
and the Paradigms. In Appraisal, Market Analysis, and Public Policy in Real Estate, ed.
James R. DeLisle and J. Sa-Aadu, 65-106. Boston: The American Real Estate Society.
Lang, Robert, James W. Hughes, and Karen A. Danielsen, 1997. Targeting the Suburban
Urbanites: Marketing Central-City Housing. Housing Policy Debate 8(2):437-70.
Myers, Dowell, ed. 1990. Housing Demography. Linking Demographic Structure and
Housing Markets. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press.
Myers, Dowell, and Kenneth Beck. 1994. A Four-Square Design for Relating the Two
Essential Dimensions of Real Estate Market Studies. In Appraisal, Market Analysis, and
Public Policy in Real Estate, ed. James R. DeLisle and J. Sa-Aadu, 259-88. Boston: The
American Real Estate Society.
Rey, Paul H. 1996. The Integral Culture Survey:A Study of the Emergence of
Transformational Values in America. Sausalito: Institute of Noetic Science.
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