Encourage upper-story housing development downtown
Action
In many aging central business districts, the upper floors above stores sit vacant. These spaces offer potential space for affordable housing.
Downtown housing produces numerous benefits. The town increases its tax base. Property owners gain additional income, which increases property values. The residents form a consumer group to anchor businesses, such as restaurants and stores. Encouraging affordable downtown housing can also help businesses by providing lower-paid service workers with nearby housing options. In addition, upper-story housing allows people to more easily walk, bike or take transit.
Process
There are many ways that states can provide incentives to develop upper-story housing in downtowns. They should identify downtowns that would benefit the most from upper-story housing and assist those communities in conducting inventories of vacant space. States should ensure that the fire prevention and life safety code, and the accessibility code are applied in a predictable and flexible manner that supports state goals. States can provide financial incentives to encourage upper-story housing development, such as increasing tax credits, instituting property tax stabilization or reduction measures, utilizing Tax Increment Financing, or directing Community Development Block Grant funds to designated downtowns.
Example
- Vermont’s Downtown Program
The Vermont Downtown Program was established in 1994 to provide technical assistance and training to communities and help local leaders develop skills and strategies for their downtown revitalization efforts. The program is an affiliate of the National Main Street Center, a division of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has worked in over 1,400 communities nationwide revitalizing and redeveloping downtown commercial districts in small towns and urban neighborhoods.
— Vermont Division for Historic Preservation
