horizontal mixed use development case study

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What is Horizontal Mixed Use Development?

Horizontal mixed-use development is an increasingly popular urban planning strategy that combines residential, commercial, and retail spaces into one cohesive unit. This type of development offers a range of benefits for stakeholders such as investors, business owners and residents. It can provide increased economic activity, improved access to amenities and services, better integration with the surrounding community and more efficient use of land resources. However, there are also potential drawbacks associated with horizontal mixed-use developments that must be taken into consideration before embarking on any project.

In this article we will discuss the types of horizontal mixed-use developments available today, the various benefits they offer stakeholders, as well as some potential drawbacks to consider when deciding whether or not this type of development is right for your situation.

Horizontal mixed-use development refers to a type of urban development that combines different types of land uses, such as residential, commercial, and retail, within a single complex or area. In this type of development, the various land uses are horizontally integrated, meaning that they are located on the same level, rather than being vertically stacked in a vertical mixed use development .

The goal of horizontal mixed-use development is to create a more efficient and sustainable use of space within the same footprint by allowing people to live, work, and play in the same area, reducing the need to drive or commute longer distances to access amenities and services. This type of development is becoming increasingly popular in urban areas as it can provide a range of benefits to stakeholders such as investors, business owners and residents.

Benefits of Horizontal Mixed-Use Development:

Horizontal mixed-use development is an ideal solution for many communities as it can bring an array of benefits for a wide range of stakeholders:

• Convenience: Having a mix of residential, commercial, and retail spaces in close proximity can make it more convenient for residents to access the goods and services they need.
• Efficient infrastructure and land use: Horizontal mixed-use developments allow for more efficient use of land by combining multiple uses into a single development. This can help reduce urban sprawl and promote more sustainable development.
• Enhanced sense of community: Horizontal mixed-use developments can foster a sense of community by acting as a hub for different types of social gatherings, activities, and events.
• Increased property values: Horizontal mixed-use developments can be attractive to buyers and tenants, which can increase property values and provide a positive economic impact on the surrounding area.
• Economic activity: Horizontal mixed-use developments can provide additional economic opportunity by increasing private investment, bringing new businesses into an area, promoting tourism and creating more jobs.

Drawbacks of Horizontal Mixed-Use Development:

While horizontal mixed-use development has several benefits, there are also some potential challenges and drawbacks to consider:

• Noise: Combining residential, commercial, and retail spaces in a single development can lead to increased noise levels, particularly if the commercial and retail spaces operate late into the night. This can be a concern for residents and may require special soundproofing measures.
• Parking: Providing sufficient parking for a horizontal mixed-use development can be a challenge, particularly if there are limited available spaces. This can lead to parking shortages and conflicts between residents, customers, and employees.
• Zoning and Planning: Horizontal mixed-use development may require special zoning and planning approvals, which can be time-consuming and costly.
• Cost: Horizontal mixed-use development can be more expensive to build than single-use developments, particularly if additional design and engineering considerations are needed to ensure compatibility between the different uses.
• Management: Managing a horizontal mixed-use development can be complex, particularly if the various uses have different operational requirements and maintenance needs. This can require specialized expertise and a dedicated management team.

Types of Horizontal Mixed Use Development

Horizontal mixed-use development can take many forms. The following are some common examples:

• Mixed-use residential buildings: Buildings that combine different types of residential uses such as apartments and condos with retail or commercial space on the ground floor.
• Urban villages: Pedestrian-friendly developments that typically include a mix of residential, office, retail, restaurant, and entertainment spaces.
• Hotel and office complexes: Developments that combine hotels and offices with retail, restaurant, or entertainment space.
• Retail parks: Developments that combine large-scale retailers with residential, commercial, or office space.
• Mixed-use town centers: Communities that include a mix of residential, commercial, retail, restaurant, and entertainment uses within a compact area.

Mixed-use developments can be an effective solution for many communities as they can bring an array of benefits for a wide range of stakeholders. However, it is important to weigh the potential drawbacks and challenges carefully when considering this type of development.

The right mix of uses must be chosen to ensure that the development meets the needs of the local community and is economically viable. With careful planning and consideration, horizontal mixed-use development can help create vibrant, sustainable communities.

• Planning Board

Study of Mixed-Use Development Trends

Study of Mixed-Use Development Trends documents

RFQ and scope of work

Staff report  

The Third Place – Mixed-use blog

Montgomery County Planning Department staff, along with the consulting firm HR&A Advisors, completed an analysis on mixed-use development trends in the county. The study looked at mixed-use development from 2010-2020, both on-the-ground development as well as approved projects in the Development Pipeline. Its primary goals were to understand the characteristics of mixed-use properties in different parts of the county, as well as what aspects of mixed-use are doing well, and, finally, to provide recommended improvements to Montgomery County policies to enhance mixed-use development.

Montgomery County is a large and diverse suburb of Washington, DC with a population of 1.05 million people. The County has dense urban central business districts like Bethesda and Silver Spring, large swathes of automobile-oriented suburbs built from the 1960’s to 1990’s, and a rural agricultural reserve that is 1/3 of the landmass of the County. Especially within the last ten years, mixing uses has become an increasingly central component of real estate development in Montgomery County as growth shifts from greenfield to infill.

Mixed-use may take many forms, including vertical mixed-use (multiple uses within a single building) and horizontal mixed-use (multiple uses in separate structures on a single property). Within Montgomery County, mixed-use constructed in the past 15 years is primarily vertical mixed-use with retail on the ground floor and office or residential above. For the purpose of this study, M-NCPPC is interested in vertical mixed-use within a single building.

Mixed-use development is steadily growing as a share of total development, with Pipeline projects even more weighted toward mixed-use than other types of recent development. Between 2010 and 2020, mixed-use development made up nearly 50 percent of new commercial and multi-family development delivered. Consistent with national trends, that mixed-use projects are becoming more common than single use, the Pipeline shows that split increasing, approaching 60 percent.

Mixed-use development is predominantly anchored by residential uses with ground floor retail as the secondary use. They are primarily located down-county and along the I-270 corridor. The scale is generally mid-rise in form, with high-rise buildings occurring most frequently in Bethesda and Silver Spring. To that point, the study notes that Rockville, Bethesda, Silver Spring, Gaithersburg, and North Bethesda make up 88% of total mixed-use square footage.

There are several drivers of success and failure regarding ground floor retail. For example, mixed-use near, or within, already vibrant areas, succeed better than not, or those situated on back-streets. Similarly, connectivity and costumer-attraction are made more difficult when near large, vacant areas and parking lots. Vacant storefront space also acts as a “negative amenity.”

Success factors

The study includes a section describing factors that contribute to successful mixed use development, including:

• Sustainability: Sustainability is both environmentally responsible but also can be seen as an amenity, often returning premium rents. Mixed-use projects can explore traditional methods of sustainability, such as LEED certification, as well as less traditional methods like green roofs, stormwater collection and recycling, or solar panel integration.
• Walkability: The ground floors of these projects can affect the larger pedestrian experience in a district. Most mixed-use projects rely on ground floor activation to create success for the commercial uses within the building, usually in the form of retail. These spaces should contribute to, and plug into, the pedestrian experience.
• Authenticity: The most successful mixed-use projects, especially in the case of mixed-use districts, should strive to either reinforce, or establish, the character, and feel, of a neighborhood. In smaller developments, authenticity can come by adding to the existing fabric of an area and aim to lease ground floor space to local retailers as opposed to national brand names, support and display local art, or host community and neighborhood events. In mixed-use districts, the authenticity of the project can be strengthened through the engagement of the local community throughout the planning process, ensuring the community’s vision and voices help to drive project design.
• Convenience: Mixed-use projects are most successful in areas proximate to transit. These areas tend to be more easily accessible to residents, workers, and shoppers of diverse incomes. Having a variety of retail, restaurants, and other amenities activate ground floor space.
• Flexibility: Zoning and regulations that can accommodate changes in consumer preferences and market conditions will result in more successful mixed-use projects. The Commercial/Residential zoning family (CR) allows for a wide-range of uses to respond to development trends and needs.
• Inclusion: Mixed-use projects should be designed for all people, both community members as well as visitors. Montgomery County’s inclusionary zoning policy is a good example of creating inclusion in mixed-use. Other methods include leasing retail space to smaller, local businesses and designing spaces to be welcoming to diverse users of all abilities.

Recommendations

The study includes recommendations based on the data analysis, policy analysis, and a review of case studies from comparable jurisdictions. The study notes that many other jurisdictions tend to rely on a combination of more frequent plan updates and site-specific approvals to accommodate shifts in developer demands or policy. It also recommends having a more discretionary review process, as is the case in Bellevue, WA, which has a mix of requirements and discretionary items in the review process, offering developers both certainty and flexibility when needed. Regarding high-priority design guidelines, Bellevue also has a mix of required and negotiable design guidelines, allowing the City to prioritize their guidelines and ensuring that developers comply with design preferences that are considered a top priority. Additionally, Fairfax County has Urban Design Guidelines that provide in-depth descriptions and options for what the County envisions for the Community Revitalization Districts.

The study demonstrates that mixed-use development is most successful in more urbanized places and, thus, provides recommendations prioritizing densification and increased flexibility for ground floor uses and activation strategies. Additionally, it recommends maintaining and increasing affordable housing.

Regarding the development process, the study recommends exploring the streamlining of the development approval process outside of the need for plan updates. This could be achieved through adjusting policies to balance flexibility with minimum requirements, exploring tweaks in the bonus density point system, and establishing policy and workflows focused on flexibility, in general.

Finally, concerning the mixed-use market in a post-Covid-19 environment, the study suggests short-term strategies such as “dressing up” vacant space, incorporating the use of public art, and allowing for altered uses of ground floor retail space for temporary child-care or co-working space, as well as rental assistance and/or small business grants to assist in continuing active ground floor spaces that will enable mixed-use development to be seen in the healthiest light.

hgh Insights

• October 25, 2022

Horizontal mixed use development

As pressure on land in London has become more acute in recent decades, the idea of stacking uses – and particularly building homes in the airspace above industrial  activity – has attracted more and more interest. 

It is in many ways logical. Industrial activity (by which I mean not just manufacturing things, but a range of activities – warehousing, wholesale and retail sales, training, waste processing – which would typically be seen on an industrial or trading estate) generally requires space at or close to ground level. It requires good access by delivery and customer vehicles; and those vehicles need space to manoeuvre and park. Homes are less in need of contact with the ground, as the many residential towers testify.

However, getting the two to co-exist is challenging. Industrial uses often give rise to noise, and sometimes air pollution, and they may operate at times when residential occupiers want quiet. Conversely, housing is what is classed a “sensitive receptor”, and although it can be detached from the ground, it requires good access for people (including mobility impaired people) and domestic deliveries.

Co-Existence

There have long been isolated examples of trying to make this union work, but not many. In general these “co-location” schemes have been vertically divided (i.e. housing and industry both sit on the ground, and they turn their backs to each other) and/or have involved student accommodation, which is generally thought to be less sensitive. However, in recent years, Southwark Council has been advocating true horizontal co-location in the Old Kent Road regeneration area.

It’s still early days, but several schemes have now not only been approved by the planning system, but are coming out of the ground.

180 Ilderton Road

180 Ilderton Road (images above) was the first. A pioneering scheme by 20:20 Capital and designed by Glenn Howells, hgh achieved 2,300sqm of flexible B1 workspace on 3 floors, and 84 flats above on 7 floors. It is being built by Optivo housing association, and is now close to completion.

Glengall Road

The same developer client then proceeded with a more ambitious scheme at Glengall Road/Bianca Road (two images above)  close to Burgess Park. Designed by Geoff Brocklehurst at HKR Architects, this involved retaining some elements of an old canalside warehouse and otherwise redeveloping the site with two storeys and nearly 4,000sqm of employment space (approved for all the then B classes), and up to 13 storeys of housing above (181 homes). It is now being built by Southern Housing.

Former Leathams Building

Back at Ilderton Road, agents spotted the potential for the former Leatham’s food distribution site to be redeveloped with modern warehousing accommodation, aimed at the “last mile” market. hgh brought in MacCreanor Lavington, who designed a scheme with 3,600sqm of flexible Class B8 space at ground level, and 253 homes above. The main building is 26 storeys. 

This scheme, now known as Bermondsey Heights, is being developed by Barratt Homes.

Ilderton Wharf / Jewsons

Pioneering Scheme

Recognising that Ilderton Road is the first part of the Old Kent Road area properly to take off – not least because it has the best public transport links, and will be the best connected part of the regeneration area for some years now the Bakerloo Line Extension is delayed – 20:20 are now back with another pioneering scheme.

This one takes the Jewson builders’ merchant site at Rollins Street , and comprehensively redevelops it with new accommodation for Jewsons, and 170 homes in a 9/23/25 storey building on top. The architects are Stitch.

Southwark Council resolved last week (17th October 2022) to grant planning permission .

Stacking up

This all adds up to a most interesting urban regeneration case study. Time alone will tell how well these schemes work, but there has been no shortage of design skill employed, and it is very encouraging that three of the four schemes are already under construction.

Header image: Roberto Sorin on Unsplash

Roger Hepher, Executive Director, hgh Consulting [email protected]

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