Item B: Opportunity Siting Update

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studied. The high density/high end development scheme was calculated to be the least financially feasible by a significant percentage. The family housing scheme, Scenario E in the report, is the only one that “pencils out.” To achieve this requires density increased to 25 dwelling units per acre, hypothetical city incentives including a subsidy of $650,000 and ten year property tax abatement, along with potential building permit fee waivers. This “best case” scenario has no financial gap, when 25% equity is provided by the developer. This finding begins to frame the sort of incentives necessary to make existing appropriately zoned sites feasible for development, given current and forecasted market conditions. The likelihood of such incentives being granted to OS developers depends on the success of the implementation process being developed and the City’s willingness to award these incentives at the policy level. The Johnson-Gardner study also provided broad conclusions about rents and wages and the viability of sites located on busy streets at neighborhood edges (See Key Conclusions): “Ultimately, the key variable that prevents either form from being considered viable is that rents in the study area are low.” “The primary reason this site cannot command higher rents, which would th improve its financial viability, is its location on a corridor. The site is on 13 Avenue and close to Chambers, heavily trafficked corridors. Large roads are a disamenity for residences and the value of two similar structures, one on a busy road and one a quiet road will be very different.” “One reason this site was selected to be the subject site was because it is an “edge” site. It is in a location that bounds a neighborhood. Existing residents often prefer to consider edge sites to be potential opportunity sites. If an attractive apartment complex locates on an edge site, it creates a buffer for the neighborhood from heavily trafficked roads. However, locating a development on an edge site makes it difficult to command higher rents.” Not all sites proposed by neighborhoods will be on the edges, or boundaries, of neighborhoods. To that end, the pilot test of the workshop included ideas for developing a methodology for considering sites internal to neighborhoods. NEXT STEPS See Agenda Item Summary. For further details on this project and materials to date, please view the webpage at www.eugene- or.gov/oppsiting FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information, contact: Patricia Thomas, Metro and Community Planning 682-5561 or at: patricia.thomas@ci.eugene.or.us