Five Unexpected Reasons for Developing Multifamily Residences

616 New Park, West Hartford, CT, designed by Amenta/Emma Architects, P.C.

Housing prices are still on the rise throughout most of the United States, and the Northeast continues to experience some of the highest levels of appreciation. Coupled with longer life expectancies and an ever-diminishing amount of unoccupied land, the potential for owning a single-family home is decreasing. In response to this and to many other contributing societal and environmental factors, multifamily housing is on the rise.

Multifamily homes are a component to solving America’s housing crisis and these developments are beneficial to developers, architects, and builders.

  1. Supply Chain Control
    Though supply chain issues have improved since the pandemic, they have not returned to pre-COVID conditions. According to a 2024 Construction Drive article: “for U.S. construction firms, prices remain high due to ongoing materials shortages and high costs of logistics and labor, while global conflicts are adding in new levels of volatility and risk.”1 Designing and building individual homes typically require customization of materials and can include specialized labor. Creating an apartment complex or multifamily residential neighborhood streamlines material and labor needs. Upfront goods and costs can be planned for with more confidence than working with a single homeowner who may want bespoke design or may change plans mid-project. Multifamily homes utilize a standardized approach to development, which helps developers, contractors, and architects organize materials and maintain budgets and schedules.
  2. Simplified Process through Improved Zoning Laws
    Communities embracing smart growth principles have recognized that building multifamily developments near transit is good for both people and businesses. In response, permitting and zoning laws are being changed to make multifamily residence development easier. In Massachusetts, for example, zoning laws were changed to allow for ease of multifamily housing in MBTA Communities. Acknowledging their housing crisis, the state modified their regulations to improve transit-oriented development (TOD) opportunities, which they recognize bring the co-benefits of improving climate conditions and transportation policy (increased mobility and reduction of reliance on single-occupancy vehicles).2 Inspired by a Massachusetts study on accessibility of zoning for multifamily residences, the state of Maine performed similar studies and published findings on multifamily land use regulations aimed at improving the process for development. As states acknowledge the housing crisis and set about changing regulations for development, the permitting and building times will decrease, which results in direct project savings.
  3. Additional Development Opportunities
    Expanding on the discussion of TOD from the previous item, this positive development trend is redefining the modern downtown space. As the population continues to grow, investment in public transport helps both residents and the environment. Creating these vibrant communities brings opportunities for developers, builders, and architects. Multifamily residences are one piece of TOD. But these areas also need retail space, transportation stations, restaurants, offices, and entertainment venues. If, as a firm, you have experience in multiple areas of design, then creating a multifamily housing development in a TOD area could lead to working on multiple sites in a TOD area.
  4. Sustainability
    Multifamily developments can provide environmental sustainability opportunities. In addition to positively impacting public health and our natural world, sustainable design and construction options also bring opportunities for tax credits and/or grant funding. Examples of federal programs include HUD’s Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP), The Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program, and investment tax credits. In Connecticut, recent CHFA tax credits are available for affordable housing in the Preservation Category, which promises to maintain affordability while incorporating sustainable design measures. Rhode Island offers the Zero Energy for the Ocean State Project, which extends grants to design and construct affordable, energy-efficient housing to serve low-to-moderate income Rhode Islanders. These funding opportunities are a direct reflection of the acknowledgment of the importance of sustainable building design and the benefits it creates.
  5. Innovative Design
    Multifamily housing, even with its streamlined development and construction process, brings creative design opportunities to architects and designers. These developments often offer outdoor spaces, common areas, fitness centers, and laundry facilities. The intended residents can also drive creativity. The needs of families, retirees, or young professionals are all very different, so the design approach would likely be different. Referring to the previous item, sustainability brings an additional component to the creative design approach for these sites. A recent positive apartment trend is the design and installation of a green roof, which combines creativity and sustainability. Multifamily spaces may look “cookie cutter” to some, but architects and designers are driving innovation that makes them anything but derivative.

Multifamily homes provide benefits to residents, communities, the environment, builders, architects, and developers. Whether new endeavors or breathing new purpose into a historic building, these spaces can be both welcoming respites and part of the solution to our current housing crisis.

 

1 https://www.constructiondive.com/news/construction-materials-supply-chain-shortage/708866/

2 https://www.mass.gov/info-details/multi-family-zoning-requirement-for-mbta-communities

Banner Image: 616 New Park, West Hartford, CT, designed by Amenta/Emma Architects, P.C.
https://amentaemma.com/projects/616-new-park/

About Jim Pavlik, PE

Jim Pavlik, PE is an Associate and leader of Fuss & O’Neill’s multifamily housing projects. Fuss & O’Neill offers full engineering support (site/civil, grant funding assistance, MEP, hazardous materials management, environmental, water, and transportation services) to execute these vital community assets. Jim has more than 30 years of experience with land development projects and specializes in complex site design, stormwater management, and permitting.

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