Housing GSO: HRA Greensboro Affordable Housing Plan

AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOMES

CREATE PUBLIC LAND DISPOSITION POLICY | Case Study

Greensboro can build off Wake County’s approach to public land disposition, first developing criteria for assessing the appropriateness of sites, and then prioritizing properties for affordable housing development. Following the release of the Wake County Affordable Housing Plan , Wake County worked across departments to establish a comprehensive inventory of publicly-owned land that met basic feasibility requirements for affordable housing development. The County then narrowed this inventory with further assessment to determine priority parcels. The City can follow a similar approach and policy development process for its own public land strategy. The City should establish evaluation criteria that are appropriate to the Greensboro market for filtering through publicly-owned sites. The City may want to consider sites in identified areas of opportunity as a priority. After assessing its inventory of publicly owned land and identifying priority sites, the City can work to set a policy that guides future City land disposition to prioritize use for affordable housing development. The City can consider developing an RFP process for disposing of identified sites that are feasible and suitable for affordable housing.

Recommended Criteria to Identify Potential Sites for Affordable Housing Development Wake County, NC

Criteria to determine basic feasibility: Meets minimum size

Over 3,000 SF, with strong preference for larger sites (>1 acre) that can accommodate multifamily projects. Either vacant or a “soft site” (land value > building value), with no County or municipal facility either currently occupying or planned to occupy the entire site. It may be appropriate to have a County or municipal facility partially occupy the site because of the benefits of housing-facility colocation. Located outside floodplain and protected open space areas, with priority for parcels with limited slope.

No conflicting use

No environmental constraints

Criteria to determine priority: Existing zoning

In an existing residential or mixed-use district.

Utility access

Has public water and sewer service or falls in an ETJ that is likely to receive it in the next 5-10 years. Not located in area of concentrated poverty; in proximity to transit and essential services.

Located in high- opportunity areas

HR&A Advisors, Inc.

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