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3. Transit-Oriented Communities Everett Housing Action Plan 37 <br /> <br /> In general, the responses indicate support for each of the strategies, including those that recommend a <br />greater variety of housing in single family neighborhoods surrounding transit stations. <br />Participant comments are included in Appendix B. <br />Economic and Feasibility Analysis Summary <br />A detailed description of the feasibility analysis of prototype projects in the SR 526/Evergreen Way <br />station area is provided in Appendix G. This section provides a high-level summary of findings of note, <br />which include the following: <br /> Over the short term, development in TOD areas should be coordinated to ensure that projects <br />consider access to light rail. There is the potential for sites within TOD areas to be developed <br />before light rail is extended to Everett. The City should look to coordinate with developers to <br />ensure that new projects in the area can be integrated with light rail access, and that development <br />density is maximized where possible. <br /> Development can be facilitated by managing associated construction costs, including costs of <br />parking. As with development in urban corridors, new projects in B and MU zones may have <br />effective limits on achieved densities and housing yields based on construction costs. The City <br />should work to reduce these costs where possible to encourage new projects, potentially by <br />addressing parking requirements in the SR 526/Evergreen Way station area. <br /> Local amenities and services can also be essential in promoting local development. New <br />multifamily and mixed-use projects will also be promoted by increasing the rents that potential <br />residents would be willing to pay to live within these areas. The City should work to improve local <br />amenities and services to allow new projects to support rents that would be high enough for <br />development to be feasible. This may include creating attractive public spaces, supporting <br />additional parks and recreation facilities, and enhancing local walkability and bicycle access. <br /> Although redevelopment will largely be focused on commercial sites, displacement of existing <br />residents is a risk. Efforts to improve amenities, increase accessibility, and promote market-rate <br />development in station areas does present the risk of increasing rents for current residents and <br />businesses in this area, encouraging economic displacement from existing spaces. The City should <br />work to provide support where possible to maintain existing naturally affordable housing, and <br />promote incentives that provide for affordable units in new development projects. <br /> Requirements for ground-floor commercial development can be challenging to manage. Under <br />EMC 19.05.080, residential/mixed-use projects on TOD streets denoted in the Metro Everett <br />Subarea Plan are required to have less than 25% of street frontage in residential use. This is <br />intended to activate the streetscape, encourage walkability, and provide services that are <br />necessary to support the local community. However, as noted previously, smaller commercial <br />spaces may not generate the same revenue as residential uses, and it may be a challenge to find <br />tenants. Extending this requirement to the SR 526/Evergreen Way station area should be sensitive <br />to the challenges with managing commercial space in these types of projects, especially over the <br />short term.