The Shadow of SB-375 Fuels Interest in Urban Infill Sites, Transit-Oriented Development and New Development Concepts
SB-375 has stirred the blood of both real estate developers and cities. As most are aware, είναι μέρος της πρωτοποριακής πρωτοβουλίας του κράτους να μειώσει τις εκπομπές αερίων του θερμοκηπίου (Αερίων του θερμοκηπίου) by decreasing the amount of carbon that spews into the air from vehicle and other emissions. The primary goal of SB-375 is to significantly reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by implementing a series of Sustainable Community Strategies throughout California. Ο σκοπός αυτών των SCS είναι να ενσωματώσει τις περιφερειακές διαδικασίες σχεδιασμού για τη μεταφορά, land-use and housing to more efficiently provide residents with alternatives to using private vehicles, οι οποίες συμβάλλουν σε περίπου 40 τοις εκατό του άνθρακα στον αέρα της Καλιφόρνιας.
Since SB-375 places considerable emphasis on tying new housing development with access to public transit, it has caused an increased focus on transit-oriented development (TOD) as a key method for reducing daily use of private vehicles. The problem is, right now there is only a limited number of these TOD sites of adequate size – five plus acres – available to accommodate the more traditional “podium” and “wrap” designs for residential or mixed-use development in urban areas. But these designs require large volumes of increasingly expensive concrete, and in today’s economy and housing markets, the larger projects are almost impossible to pencil out due to the construction cost. Lenders are simply not interested in funding these projects.
BIGGER SUPPLY OF SMALLER SITES
Έτσι, while interest in urban infill and especially TOD increases, the inventory of sites that are larger than five plus acres is limited. Ωστόσο, there appears to be a bigger supply of smaller sites in the two– to four-acre range that would be available for development if there was a financially viable, community-friendly design that would not only fit on a smaller site, but would be more attractive to the banks and would satisfy the many challenges of urban development. Up to this point, these smaller sites have been pretty much ignored by builders.
Αλλά, due to changing market and financial conditions, coupled with new regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as the State of California’s measures AB-32 and SB-375, there is tremendous pressure put on developers – and cities – to build housing and mixed-use projects on smaller sites in urban areas. Architects and designers have an opportunity to fill this void by forgoing the old ways of designing projects and concentrating on new, more innovative concepts that will find a place in the more constrained urban environment.
For sure, there are a number of challenges large and small associated with developing on smaller sites. One of the bigger challenges that architects must address is the importance being placed on improved sustainability along with providing sufficient green or open space in higher density projects to satisfy the requirements that many cities have as part of their development criteria.
NEW DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS
In light of today’s market and environmental realities, Newman Garrison and Partners has designed a lower cost concept for smaller sites — called New Block — which can accommodate up to 45 μονάδες ανά στρέμμα. The most important factor in reducing the cost of construction for this concept is the use of surface parking that utilizes more cost-effective Type V wood construction, which significantly cuts construction costs compared to podium or wrap. Without concrete, construction costs can be reduced about 35 percent from approximately $200-$250 a square foot to about $130 a square foot.
Another major obstacle that had to be overcome is how to develop on a smaller lot while complying with open space requirements that are common in many cities. The solution was to use a sustainably designed, green-roof system on top of the parking lot cover that creates both a pleasing visual feature and usable open space. The green roof can support various grasses and/or native plantings that are carefully chosen to adapt to the local seasonal cycles and to attract birds and other species including endangered species, another environmental advantage. Επίσης, this green roof space provides an exceptional outdoor amenity with decorative hardscape that can be used by residents for such activities as social and family gatherings, ταινίες, picnics and as a restful retreat.
Τελικά, to reduce greenhouse gas and spur housing development, local governments have indicated they are more interested than ever in pursuing public/private partnerships with builders to develop urban sites. This is especially true in states such as California, where the impending implementation of carbon reduction legislation has placed increasing importance on development of sites closer to public transit in a move to drastically cut carbon emissions.
Mark Asturias, housing manager for the City of Irvine, is a proponent of more infill development. “Irvine is seeking new development concepts such as New Block to provide a diversity of housing for its residents,” he states. “We are interested in innovative concepts that can be built on sites within areas near transit service in order to reduce the use of private autos. As cities mature, we expect the demand for urban sites will undoubtedly increase as cities and developers strive to reduce carbon and greenhouse gas emissions and as residents seek a variety of housing opportunities near transit and mixed-use development that reduces dependence on the automobile.”
As SB-375 and similar measures come closer to reality, it appears that demand for these TOD and other infill sites will quickly outpace current supply in many areas. Necessity is the mother of invention and new concepts designed to utilize smaller urban sites will pave the way for increasing urban development opportunities at a time when they are needed the most.
ΣΥΓΓΡΑΦΕΑ ΒΙΟ: Kevin Newman is Chairman of Newman Garrison and Partners architecture and planning. Based in Newport Beach, CA, the firm’s professionals have more than 30 years experience in creating innovative architectural design for mid– and high-rise towers, mixed-use, urban transit villages, αστικές πλήρωσης, resort and multifamily communities, as well as workforce, student and senior housing. Newman can be reached at KNewman@nggpartners.com.
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RT @ buildaroo: CA carbon regulations lead architects 2 new TOD concepts http://bit.ly/7vySBP #greenbuilding #architecture
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