In the process of delivering these projects, however, developers must reckon with multiple challenges: zoning laws, community resistance and finding the right combination of property uses amid changing customer preferences. Strategies associated with planning conventional projects only multiply and intensify with mixed-use.<\/p>\n
![\"Opus](\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/10\/Opus-2.jpg\")
<\/a>Opus Point at 23-10 in the Queens, N.Y., Long Island City neighborhood offers modern office and retail space. Image courtesy of Dynamic Star<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Key questions include, \u201cWhat does the market want in this location?\u201d and \u201cWhat can we deliver that can respond to demand?\u201d said Chris Coleman, vice president of development at Wingspan Development Group<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Early steps in Wingspan\u2019s process include consultants weighing in on a project\u2019s potential and meetings with representatives of the municipality or neighborhood. That shortens the timeline and helps address opposition. \u201cWhile we might not always meet the demands or requirements of those stakeholders or neighbors who have concerns or issues,\u201d Coleman said, \u201cthose developers who listen and make a good-faith effort can typically overcome challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n When local communities oppose projects, it is often because \u201cpeople see development as not good for their neighborhood rather than seeing it grow together,\u201d observed Brad Zackson, co-founder & director of development at Dynamic Star<\/strong> in New York City. \u201cWe try and do a very good job by meeting and listening and talking. Zoning is a much more arduous process without building relationships with the players in the neighborhood or municipality you plan to build in,\u201d said Zackson, adding that a sophisticated internal team is also critical to the permitting process.<\/p>\n Dynamic Star\u2019s Opus Point in Queens\u2019 Long Island City neighborhood will offer a mix of commercial and office leases. Image courtesy of Dynamic Star<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Nevertheless, he notes that \u201cthe local community that you enter is the most important\u201d factor. \u201cThey know their communities, so you really start to understand what\u2019s going to make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n In cities, where neighborhoods often have particularly strong identities, the resistance to new development is often strongest. Community groups tend to be more organized and raise different issues than their suburban counterparts. \u201cYou can have locations with very strong demand for the site and all of the demand drivers are there, but the municipality or some other involved stakeholder is going to make the process prohibitively cumbersome. We would avoid that,\u201d said Coleman.<\/p>\n Zoning laws have long presented a hurdle to developing new projects, but some municipalities are reviewing their regulations. New York City is slowly rolling out<\/a> plans to overhaul zoning laws in an attempt to open the door to more mixed-use properties in the form of office-to-residential conversions.<\/p>\n \u201cI think any zoning reform is helpful and helps spur development,\u201d said Zackson, though he expressed the view that where conversions are considered, mixed-use is still the best option. \u201cI don\u2019t think turning all these office buildings to residential buildings is a solution.\u201d In many cases, the solution may be a split. \u201cI think they should turn the tops of the buildings residential and keep the office and modernize the office to create what people want.\u201d<\/p>\n Existing residents will be key to supporting the commercial components of new mixed-use projects. Maintaining a dialogue with residents and local institutions is critical to understanding how a project can become a part of a neighborhood and meet its needs. \u201cA mixed-use development should end up being more than the sum of its parts, but each part should end up being viable in and of itself,\u201d said Coleman.<\/p>\n Dynamic Star\u2019s Fordham Landing South is located at 320 W. Fordham Road, in the Bronx\u2019s University Heights neighborhood. The property will offer medical office space, 505 housing units and a waterfront promenade along the Harlem River. Image courtesy of Dynamic Star<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n \u201cThere are sometimes situations where, for whatever reason, the municipality or some of the stakeholders want you to include, particularly in the residential piece, some kind of commercial component that doesn\u2019t really fit, that\u2019s not viable and in many situations can compromise other commercial existing retail businesses in that same submarket or area.\u201d<\/p>\n Developers may face pressure from local agencies or other stakeholders to include a commercial component that doesn\u2019t fit the larger plan. One such pitfall to avoid is excessive or unnecessary retail space, said Coleman, especially when it replicates viable businesses in the community. \u201cWhat those existing businesses need is just more foot traffic,\u201d he said, \u201cbut there is this desire from some stakeholders to deliver even more commercial space, because that is what they think is important.\u201d<\/p>\n Nor can a mixed-use project\u2019s retail spaces rely on commercial tenants alone. \u201cYou have to look at neighborhoods and feel there\u2019s an opportunity for office, retail and for people to want to live there and how the local community will support what you\u2019re doing,\u201d said Zackson. Commercial space should integrate with the local culture, he added, with the available locations marketed to the kinds of small businesses that are typical to the area.<\/p>\n Maple Street Lofts in Mount Prospect, Ill., is located outside Chicago and offers an easy commute to the city. Image courtesy of Wingspan Development Group<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n \u201cOn the commercial side, it\u2019s got to have good demand drivers for that commercial space in and of itself,\u201d said Coleman, noting that one 192-unit residential project developed by Wingspan includes a 16,000-square-foot grocery store. \u201cIt\u2019s a great amenity for the building and those residents are going to help support that grocer, but that grocer can\u2019t live off of our presence. There’s not enough business there. There have to be underlying fundamentals that exist for that grocer outside of our building.\u201d<\/p>\n In an age of online shopping and food-delivery apps, commercial and retail outposts must do more to lure consumers in. Access and convenience remain key, though commercial tenants still have some heavy lifting.<\/p>\n \u201cThe changes in mixed-use projects have been as dramatic as the change in the shopping patterns of customers,\u201d said Coleman. Shopping habits have evolved dramatically in the past few years. The whole shopping experience and the way that people buy goods today is markedly different than it was five or 10 years ago. \u201cWhether you\u2019re selling milkshakes or whether you\u2019re selling makeup, there\u2019s some reason that you\u2019ve got to have to get the person to come from wherever they are to your store.\u201d<\/p>\n The commercial components of a mixed-used project and the surrounding community will ideally complement each other, said Coleman. \u201cThey need to exist independently and flourish together.\u201d<\/p>\n Mack Selberg, managing principal at architecture firm Ankrom Moisan<\/strong>, has likewise observed a rising comfort level with mixed-use projects in both the commercial and multifamily sectors. \u201cWe are much better with mixed-use,\u201d he said, noting that the pandemic temporarily dampened enthusiasm for such projects. \u201cThe (post-pandemic) destruction of retail food and beverage did not help mixed-use,\u201d but rather encouraged the development of exclusively residential projects, at least in the short-term.<\/p>\n Wingspan Development Group designed Maple Street Lofts in Mount Prospect, Ill., as a community with its own grocery store that would complement the surrounding neighborhood and offer an easy commute to downtown Chicago. Image courtesy of Wingspan Development Group<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n![\"Dynamic](\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/10\/Opus-1.jpg\")
<\/a>Urban symbiosis<\/h2>\n
![\"Dynamic](\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/10\/Fordham-Landing-1.png\")
<\/a>![\"Maple](\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/10\/maple-street-1.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Wingspan](\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/10\/maple-street-lofts-3.jpg\")
<\/a>An end to suburbia?<\/h2>\n