FABB Blog

It is good to see The Washington Post reporting this week on findings from a recently published Urban Land Institute study on active transportation and real estate that focused on a trend in developers building more “trail-oriented” communities to meet a growing demand for bike-friendly and walkable places to live and work. According to the report, the developers are taking advantage of government investments in recreational trails, a shift toward more urban and car-free lifestyles, and demand from people who can’t afford a car or choose to forego driving for health or environmental reasons. Developments profiled in the study, including the nearby The Flats at Bethesda Avenue, offer amenities such as bicycle storage, extra-wide hallways and elevators, bike cleaning stations, bike “valets,” bike-share systems and shower or locker facilities.

Courtesy of Urban Land Institute

FABB hopes Fairfax County developers, property managers, designers, and public officials will take a close look at the ULI report, Active Transportation and Real Estate: The Next Frontier, and learn from its case studies about supporting and leveraging investments in bike lanes and trails to create real estate value and promote economic, environmental, and public health goals. County homeowners, especially those near the planned improvements for the I-66 Outside-the-Beltway Project, should also note the study’s finding that numerous studies have shown that real estate values increase with proximity to bicycle paths and walking trails.

Other interesting findings in the study include: 

However the title of the article, which appeared in the Washington Post this weekend, is very misleading: Why Fairfax won’t change for millennials. What it should say is that Fairfax County will change for millennials and everyone else who wants walkable, transit-oriented living spaces. We've been saying this for a long time and it's good that the EDA agrees. We hope in the future the EDA will including a mention of bicycling on their Fairfax Transportation page. We have two of the most popular bike trails in the country, the W&OD and Mt. Vernon Trails, and more people are using bikes to access Metro and for other short trips.

We also agree with Mr. Gordon when he says "The trick, of course, is that they are not at all easy to achieve, especially for communities developed within a traditional suburban model." Fairfax is slowly being transformed but it is a long slow process. The Board of Supervisors understands this need for transformation and is encouraging growth around Metro stations and other transit areas and there are some funds for bike and pedestrian projects. Making Fairfax more bike- and pedestrian-friendly are key components of this transformation.

Change is slow and we would like to see more resources devoted to the transformation. An example is that the bicycle coordinator position has been vacant since January of this year which means one less person is working on the many aspects of implementing the Bicycle Master Plan. Bicycle program funds were cut in 2010 and have not been restored. We think the Board should restore funding for the program next year, including funding for Bike Fairfax as recommended in the Bicycle Master Plan.

Update: See the FABB blog entry on the recently approved Transportation Demand Management Plan 2016-2021 that includes funding for staff to conduct encouragement and education activities.

WASHINGTON, October 7, 2014 – Cushman & Wakefield today released a special research study detailing Washington, D.C.’s expanding transit system and development plans for keeping pace with the rapid population increase since 2000. The “Urban Development: Faster Greener Commutes Key to Sustained City Growth” report explores the trends, consequences and solutions of hyper-urbanization in 10 major North American cities: Washington D.C., Mexico City, Manhattan, Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, Miami, Atlanta, Boston and San Francisco.

The report features industry-leading insights and market analysis, animated GIFs is available to download at the following link:http://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/research-and-insight/2014/urban-development-fall-2014/

Key findings of this report for Washington D.C. include:

• Population growth is not confined to the city center although population in the District proper is at its highest level in four decades.
• Projects in the downtown core, or along transit hubs in the suburbs, which offer the live/work/play lifestyle, are attracting businesses and residents alike.
• DC ranks first in the U.S. among all urban areas in terms of wasted time commuting: a total of 67 hours per year, per commuter.
• Commuters in the District of Columbia are second only to New York City in terms of walking, biking or using public transport—D.C. government aims for 75% of all commutes to be within these modes, shrinking auto use among commuters from 42% to 25% by 2032, a goal no major city has yet attained.
• Long-term plan for Tysons calls for 75% of new development within a half mile of a Metro station.
• Montgomery County has a potential 13 million square feet of commercial space and 14,000 residential units within three quarters of a mile of the Red Line’s White Flint Metro stop.

Most notable among the report’s conclusions is the premium placed on sustainable, transit-oriented development in downtown cities and the dramatic surge in suburban communities now fully-embracing the live-work-play model as a result of geographical nuances.

Paula Munger, Cushman & Wakefield’s Washington-based Research Director, spearheaded the report and notes that “Public Private Partnerships are most critical to the successful revival of downtown cities—hip eateries, thriving arts districts, and fully occupied offices and residences depend on sustainable, quality transit—developers and governments must work together to make this happen.”

In April 2013, Maryland and Virginia were among 31 other states to pass legislation to enable public/private partnerships to be established for transportation projects. Virginia was an early leader in these partnerships and has evolved into a national role model.

Real estate occupiers and investors are seeking accessible locations close to where the millennial generation – expected to make up more than half of the global workforce by 2020 – live, thus driving the construction of the Transit Oriented Developments (TODs).

In the Washington region, the report highlights four key mixed-use developments, which are all located very close to Metro stations: CityCenterDC, The Yards in Southeast, Capitol Crossing and the Wharf.

“Transit oriented development (TOD) is the most substantial development trend of the early 21st century,” said Christopher B. Leinberger, the Charles Bendit Distinguished Scholar and Research Professor of Urban Real Estate, Chair of the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis at the George Washington University School of Business and President, of LOCUS: Responsible Real Estate Developers and Investors.

“As Cushman & Wakefield points out in its Urban Development research report, this trend is a majority and in some cases the vast majority of new commercial development, as well as residential development, in many Metro areas today,” said Leinberger.

The Sustainable D.C. Plan lays out a strategy to have 75% of all D.C. commutes taking transit, biking or walking by 2032. “Re-orienting our transportation spending toward rail and bus transit, biking and walking are the most important infrastructure investments North American metropolitan areas can make,” said Leinberger.

“As the C&W research shows, this new walkable urban development is occurring in both our central cities and urbanizing suburbs. Following the research findings will lead to rental and cap rate premiums that will not be ignored by investors and developers,” concluded Leinberger.

Perhaps when the Silver Line service begins this will change, but 70% of the increase in emissions between 2006 and 2010 was from commuters passing through the county. Sprawling development in Loudoun Co. didn't help.

Workers no longer prefer to work in them, companies no longer want to occupy them, banks no l onger will finance them, real estate trusts no longer want to own them band planning boards have become reluctant to approve them. In the future, developers say, offices will be part of mixed-use developments, with shops, restaurants, schools, day-care centers, and doctors' offices, preferably within walking or biking distance of condos, townhouses and Metro stops.

Across the region, a generation of baby boomers is getting ready to sell three-bedroom suburban colonials to Gen Xers who either don’t want them or can’t afford them. Add to that a wave of foreclosures and excess inventory left over from a speculative housing boom that has driven home prices in many submarkets to levels below the cost of new construction.

For exurban developers, the implication is pretty clear: The raw land they’re holding isn’t worth much and in any case, and there’s not much point trying to build on it until the excess inventory is worked off. Perhaps that is why developments that were started during the boom but were never finished are selling at 35 cents on every dollar invested in land, roads, street lights, sewer and water lines and half-finished golf courses. Even when the market clears, exurban development is likely to focus on low-cost starter homes.

All that contrasts sharply with what is going on in the District and inner suburbs, where prices have held steady and a construction boom is under way for new and remodeled townhouses and apartments. Despite the absence of bank lending, speculative condo developments have even begun to spring up in the hotter neighborhoods, almost all of them equity financed. This market is driven by singles, young-marrieds and empty-nesters, plus a growing number of families with children, all looking for a more urban, less car-dependent lifestyle.

These companies are getting a jump on a major cultural and demographic shift away from suburban sprawl. The change is imminent, and businesses that don't understand and plan for it may suffer in the long run.

To put it simply, the suburbs have lost their sheen: Both young workers and retiring Boomers are actively seeking to live in densely packed, mixed-use communities that don't require cars-that is, cities or revitalized outskirts in which residences, shops, schools, parks, and other amenities exist close together. "In the 1950s, suburbs were the future," says University of Michigan architecture and urban-planning professor Robert Fishman, commenting on the striking cultural shift. "The city was then seen as a dingy environment. But today it's these urban neighborhoods that are exciting and diverse and exploding with growth."

With respect to bicycle facilities in particular, Secretary LaHood has committed the Department to "work toward an America where bikes are recognized to coexist with other modes and to safely share our roads and bridges." If we are to create livable communities, "the range of transportation choices available to all Americans-including transit, walking, bicycling, and improved connectivity for various modes-must be expanded.

The success of public transportation can be limited by the problem of the "first and last mile." One of "the best present options for solving the first and last mile dilemma are bicycles. Bicycles are the no-brainer of American mobility, one of our great underutilized resources. There are more bicycles in the United States than there are households but most of those bikes sit in garages except for an occasional recreational outing. And yet they are the perfect transportation choice for a short one- to three-mile trip to and from a transit station."