New rental properties being constructed in Fayetteville might not affect homeowners as originally thought, according to a study.
Fayetteville has been known for high numbers of rental properties in both homes and apartments. It’s an easy assumption that this many rentals could negatively impact a person looking to sell a home.
Fayetteville has started these new addition to make a more walkable environment, said Lindsley Smith, communication director for Fayetteville.
“The city’s plans have a focus on infill,” Smith said. Infill is a planning term meaning that instead of building out, building are built within existing area.
“The university and city has made a call for more student housing,” Smith said. Because the apartment is closer to the university, students will be closer to the services they need, she said.
A study by Harvard University found that subsidized housing can create more positives than negatives. One major positive found was an increase in real-estate development, since abandoned buildings are either demolished or remodeled and resold. A negative found was that stereotypes are weighed heavily. If a subsidized housing unit is built in or near a predominantly white neighborhood, it was noted that many would move away if the unit was rented to mostly minorities.
Fayetteville has likely seen an economic boost from traditional renting. It was found that many homeowners across the United States were avoiding foreclosure by renting out their homes and moving somewhere more affordable, according to Smart Money magazine. It was estimated by the Center for Responsible Lending that every household within one-eighth of a mile from a foreclosed home had their home values drop anywhere from 7 to 13 percent.
Another way Fayetteville has not suffered from rental properties is because of zoning areas. Fayetteville tries to create an assortment of zones in the city to create variety and thus boost the value of the city as a whole, according to the city website.
There are many regulations on how structures can be built in Fayetteville. For example, some zones require a building to be a certain width or sitting a certain distance from the street. This has affected some new apartment complexes like The Vue, Sterling Frisco and The Domain.
Height regulations play a role in how these new complexes can be built. The Vue falls into a zoning area that limits height to 60 feet. The areas that Sterling Frisco and The Domain will be located are limited to four stories or 56 feet, whichever is less. This gives The Vue more flexibility to move upward rather than outward. Sterling Frisco and The Domain will have to built out rather than up.
This may or may not create a negative impact. Many studies have shown that the U.S. is trying to build up rather than out in order to create more space. Building up rather than out allows for a high density building but offers more green space, according to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
However, there’s also the concern that if a building has so many floors, then it would be impossible to escape in case of a fire.
Concerns may be great, but especially in our city, renting seems to have a neutral or even positive effect on the economy. Fayetteville is “one of the country’s best-kept secrets with its thriving economy and a family-friendly atmosphere nestled in the Ozark Mountains,” according to Sperling’s Best Places. That could be attributed to many things, but as far as the housing market goes, a big part of it may be rental properties.
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