Cities and suburbs all over the country face the same problem: not enough affordable housing for their own police, firefighters, EMTs, teachers, and lower-level administrative staff in schools and government agencies. C. Kat Grimsley, PhD, has a suggestion: If your school district is building a new school, build housing in the air space above it and put lower-paid public employees at the front of the line to live there, at subsidized rental rates.
Grimsley, who directs the master’s in real estate program at George Mason University, won a competition for best paper from RCLCO Real Estate Advisors for this idea. She tested her theory out using the third-largest school district in Virginia, Loudoun County, where the Area Median Income is $134,464, but where there’s a need for 10,000 affordable rental units for families.
Her scheme envisions a three-story concrete school at the base topped by a three-story wood-framed apartment building. (Such a configuration would meet most local fire codes for wood buildings.) This could yield 42 one-bedroom units (for, say, young single teachers or EMTs making almost nothing), and six each of two- and three-bedroom apartments for families, for a total of 54. The mix could be juggled depending on local needs.
There's a lot to like about this idea. First, land costs for the residential structure would go down to zero, or there could be some cost sharing with the school district. But still a bargain. The school district would already be paying to bring in utilities to the site, so that would be another savings for the apartment portion of the project. The scheme would also step around the “taking issue,” since any land that the school district acquired through eminent domain would be primarily for a public purpose (building the school), not a private one.
Parking could be shared. The school would get use of the parking lot from, say, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on school days; the residents could use it after 4 and at night.
Teachers could roll out of bed in the morning and take the elevator to school (there would be separate elevators and entrances for the school and residences). Police, firefighters, EMTs, and school maintenance staff could live in the same town where they work, instead of having to live in a more distant town where the housing is more reasonably priced.
Grimsley focused on using her scheme for new school construction, but the real payoff would come with using existing schools. Loudoun County, for example, has more than 90 education facilities for its 81,622 students. Building in the air rights over an active K-6 would be difficult to impossible, of course. But what about that ground-level parking lot? Could it be converted to structured parking (at school district cost) with housing above? That would be a piece of cake for any builder. School districts need to look into their real estate portfolios to see if there’s land on school properties that could be turned into housing.
Sure, Grimsley’s modest proposal needs more work, but something tells me there’s a brilliant idea here. Do you agree? Disagree? Send me your thoughts at the email below.
Related Stories
Resiliency | Jun 3, 2024
Houston’s buyout program has prevented flood damage but many more homes at risk
Recent flooding in Houston has increased focus on a 30-year-old program to buy out some of the area’s most vulnerable homes. Storms dropped 23 inches of rain on parts of southeast Texas, leading to thousands of homes being flooded in low-lying neighborhoods around Houston.
MFPRO+ New Projects | May 29, 2024
Two San Francisco multifamily high rises install onsite water recycling systems
Two high-rise apartment buildings in San Francisco have installed onsite water recycling systems that will reuse a total of 3.9 million gallons of wastewater annually. The recycled water will be used for toilet flushing, cooling towers, and landscape irrigation to significantly reduce water usage in both buildings.
MFPRO+ News | May 28, 2024
ENERGY STAR NextGen Certification for New Homes and Apartments launched
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently launched ENERGY STAR NextGen Certified Homes and Apartments, a voluntary certification program for new residential buildings. The program will increase national energy and emissions savings by accelerating the building industry’s adoption of advanced, energy-efficient technologies, according to an EPA news release.
MFPRO+ News | May 24, 2024
Austin, Texas, outlaws windowless bedrooms
Austin, Texas will no longer allow developers to build windowless bedrooms. For at least two decades, the city had permitted developers to build thousands of windowless bedrooms.
Mass Timber | May 22, 2024
3 mass timber architecture innovations
As mass timber construction evolves from the first decade of projects, we're finding an increasing variety of mass timber solutions. Here are three primary examples.
Mixed-Use | May 22, 2024
Multifamily properties above ground-floor grocers continue to see positive rental premiums
Optimizing land usage is becoming an even bigger priority for developers. In some city centers, many large grocery stores sprawl across valuable land.
MFPRO+ News | May 21, 2024
Massachusetts governor launches advocacy group to push for more housing
Massachusetts’ Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll have taken the unusual step of setting up a nonprofit to advocate for pro-housing efforts at the local level. One Commonwealth Inc., will work to provide political and financial support for local housing initiatives, a key pillar of the governor’s agenda.
MFPRO+ News | May 21, 2024
Baker Barrios Architects announces new leadership roles for multifamily, healthcare design
Baker Barrios Architects announced two new additions to its leadership: Chris Powers, RA, AIA, NCARB, EDAC, as Associate Principal and Director (Healthcare); and Mark Kluemper, AIA, NCARB, as Associate Principal and Technical Director (Multifamily).
MFPRO+ News | May 20, 2024
Florida condo market roiled by structural safety standards law
A Florida law enacted after the Surfside condo tower collapse is causing turmoil in the condominium market. The law, which requires buildings to meet certain structural safety standards, is forcing condo associations to assess hefty fees to make repairs on older properties. In some cases, the cost per unit runs into six figures.
Mass Timber | May 17, 2024
Charlotte's new multifamily mid-rise will feature exposed mass timber
Construction recently kicked off for Oxbow, a multifamily community in Charlotte’s The Mill District. The $97.8 million project, consisting of 389 rental units and 14,300 sf of commercial space, sits on 4.3 acres that formerly housed four commercial buildings. The street-level retail is designed for boutiques, coffee shops, and other neighborhood services.