OTHER-TO-RESIDENTIAL TOOLKIT

The mounting housing shortage in the SCAG region has created a need for finding innovative ways to increase the housing production and supply. While SCAG prioritizes infill and redevelopment of underutilized land based on the priorities and strategies outlined in  Connect SoCal , the built-out nature of Southern California communities are often a barrier for adding more housing in the region, creating challenges for many cities looking to achieve their Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) targets.

The Other-To-Residential Toolkit offers strategies to rethink the reuse and conversion of underutilized nonresidential sites that fall within the retail commercial strip centers, brownfield, gas stations, and golf course typologies as potential opportunities to add more housing in existing urban areas. The Toolkit has been designed to support policymakers and agency staff in the SCAG region to think creatively about ways to facilitate or initiate additional housing development. It offers a step-by-step process to identify barriers and find solutions, as well as a Toolbox of measures that agencies can leverage to facilitate or initiate site conversion processes.

Gas stations, retail commercial strip centers, brownfields, and golf courses have the potential to become attractive for conversion to residential due to market factors, the changing nature of their use, and broader policies and priorities for development Statewide. The snapshots below identify key opportunities and conditions that may make each of these site types favorable for conversion for housing production in your jurisdiction. 

Explore each of these typologies below.

TYPOLOGY: GAS STATIONS

A region-wide future trend of gas stations closing down could provide opportunities to reposition these sites for housing.

Redevelopment of gas station sites offers opportunities to build more housing in urban core areas, often in prime locations or near existing amenities.

Often gas stations are adjacent to other auto uses providing opportunities for consolidation of parcels.

Several grant funding resources are available to agencies for brownfields cleanup on petroleum contaminated gas station sites.

Converting abandoned sites to mixed use developments can provide some revenue streams for jurisdictions.

TYPOLOGY: RETAIL COMMERCIAL

Growing e-commerce and low tenancy rates in retail centers provide opportunities for full or partial conversion of commercial sites to residential or mixed-use development.

Commercial sites often cover a big enough area for large residential and mixed use redevelopment projects that can accommodate high unit counts and a variety of housing typologies.

Commercial sites offer opportunities to build transit adjacent or highway-accessible development, often along major corridors and intersections.

Existing zoning codes may permit residential uses on previously commercial lots.

Proposed laws like Senate Bill 61 and Senate Bill 152 would facilitate the conversion of underutilized commercial sites to residential use.

TYPOLOGY: BROWNFIELDS

Having a large number of existing brownfield sites may create a significant opportunity for redevelopment and new housing in your community.

Brownfields are often infill sites in urban core areas. Redeveloping them provides the opportunity to further the objectives of compact cities and smart growth.

Passage of the Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development Act ( Build Act ) & Liability Relief provisions reduces liability risks in brownfield developments.

There are several existing Federal and State funding opportunities and tax incentives for brownfields assessments and cleanup.

Redeveloping brownfields can further the revitalization of historically disadvantaged areas.

Brownfields may be cheaper than other sites to purchase because they require remediation.

TYPOLOGY: GOLF COURSES

The continuous closure of golf courses nationwide opens the debate on new uses for them, among which housing plays a fundamental role.

The generous property sizes of golf courses offer a unique opportunity to develop impactful projects that help to meet cities' housing goals.

As large sites, golf courses provide the opportunity for phased redevelopment.

Municipal golf courses are publicly owned so cities and public agencies can have more control over how they are developed.

Housing element updates offer an opportunity for cities to identify specific municipal golf courses that can be rezoned for residential uses.

Any new housing facilitated as part of the Other to Residential Toolkit and typology conversion should be placed intentionally and thoughtfully in locations that would further SCAG's Connect SoCal's goal for sustainable development, as well as, three other fundamental principles based on industry and smart growth best practices for creating walkable, vibrant, and healthy communities.

• Compact cities/sustainable development - locating housing on infill sites next to transit and amenities, where possible and creating land use patterns that promote healthy communities and economic security.
• Focus on equity in decision-making and development outcomes - focusing on the existing community and their needs by not displacing what is already successful or community valued uses that may be on a site, and integrating where possible community-components/amenities into the new development.
• Housing Affordability and Diversity of Options - integrating various types of housing and affordability levels of housing to not only address market demand but gaps in the housing market and housing supply.

SCAG's Annual Land Use Data HELPR Tool is an existing online tool that can assist agencies in selecting parcels best suited for conversion to residential within their jurisdictions.

• First, agencies can sort the parcels by the specific land use typologies highlighted in the Toolkit.
• Next, parcels can be filtered based on ideal physical site considerations conducive to residential development such as minimum parcel size of 0.25 acres, a less than 6% slope, proximity to several habitats and environmental hazards that could affect the permitting process for residential development and other criteria aligned with criteria from affordable housing funding sources.
• Agencies can also prioritize parcels for conversion to residential based on access and opportunity criteria, tied back to SCAG's Connect SoCal goals such as access to job centers, jobs, community amenities, and SB 535 Disadvantaged community areas among equity factors.

Results

Using the Other to Residential suitability sites methodology, 55,776 acres in the SCAG region were identified as suitable for residential conversion. This is based on the other land use parcel category; these parcels will still need to undergo steps, such as updates to zoning regulations, and the implementation of tools within the toolbox to become shovel ready for development.

The Step-by-Step Guide, which is included in the Other-to-Residential Toolkit provides a broad framework and sequence of activities to explore site conversion including feasibility assessment, strategies to catalyze change, and possible road maps for jurisdictions to pursue. This Step-by-Step Guide that clearly outlines a process for jurisdictions to follow that not only navigates them through the document, but provides the pathway for the conversion of sites to residential.

Each Step is focused on a distinct set of questions for policymakers to consider, moving from high-level exploratory questions in Step 1 that analyze the potential for sites appropriate for conversion, all the way to Step 4 to get specific about tools and processes to put in place for targeted conversions of specific sites.

Step 1: The "Before You Begin" section is provided as a primer for jurisdictions that are coming to this resource without a specific site typology in mind. It provides an overview of the four site typologies covered as part of the Toolkit - gas stations, brownfields, retail commercial sites and golf courses, highlighting the ongoing trends and changes in these uses that might make them opportunity sites for conversion to residential.

Step 2: The "Analyze the Potential" section provides direction on how to assess the opportunity of a specific site typology within a jurisdiction to reveal an underutilized site or sites for further exploration. This step also provides direction on what agency staff should participate in that assessment and key resources to reference.

Step 3: The "Evaluate Barriers and Challenges" section is a deeper dive into themes of issues that could be barriers or challenges for conversion, such as regulatory barriers, physical challenges, development risk and identifies key issues or catalysts to focus on such as design guidelines, creating developer interest, new infrastructure needed, and other regulatory incentives. Based on the key issues identified in this step, jurisdictions can then reference tools, strategies, policies and actions in our user-friendly Toolbox to leverage and adopt, in order to address the specific roadblocks they may be facing for the successful development.

Step 4: The "Create a Conversion Strategy Road Map" step includes tool clusters that can address various types of challenges and identifies a variety of policies, programs and process improvements or adjustments for jurisdictions to adopt or implement depending on the type and scale of development and underlying site typology.

Have questions about the Toolkit? Write to us at  housing@scag.ca.gov