P3X3 3D

We will move from the 2d mapping into three dimensions following Thursday. You are welcome to experiment prior. Use SketchUp and Google Maps and own maps to create separate three-dimensional models, to scale, of the existing condition and your proposed redevelopment. These will be fairly bland mass models with little detail. But they allow us to study and think about shadow, scale of urban space, visual connectivity and program use. I think that as a class we need to come up with a consistent color key that allows us to denote parking, housing, mercantile, business, etc. The masses then take on meaning within a mixed use concept.  Some of you will have more of this, and some of you will have less, depending upon your site and in the context.

Maps of Problems and Proposed Fixes (P3X3)

Exercise 3 (P3X3)

During 11/20 class period we discussed the making of maps that tell the following information about developments:

1. Problems/Issues at multiple scales (i.e. location, amenity, boundary/linkage, transportation, density, physical condition, etc). These are primarily focused on the 
2. Opportunities at multiple scales (linkages, densities/reconfigurations, 
3. Photoshop Urban Design at multiple scales. Cut and past other scales, shapes, types of development into your investigation site (recall our speculation about Dre's project). This is focused on redevelopment of the site itself but can include adding network improvements at the wider scale (new bus stops, bike trails, round-a-bouts, pedestrian bridges) and renovating/ transforming nearby amenities such as parks, or service areas such as retail centers to include new programs (discussed over Trevor's project). Use color paste-up on top of grayscale original. Use your mastery of photoshop to make this work. It is okay for it to look like a collage. It is not the first time this way of thinking has been applied. Have you ever seen Pianesi's fictional map of Rome? It is genius. 

Complete these over break.

High Risk of Affordability Loss (tasks for Thursday) (P3X2 cont.)

Focus your investigation on projects that fall into the "high risk of affordability loss (for-profit owned, well-located and in good condition)" category. However, I am interested that we have knowledge of a broad range of properties.

Accumulate:
Aerial imagery at multiple scales (include adjacent retail, parks, transportation, etc)
Street level imagery
Property statistics (year, units, building, acres, rents, pulsations, demographics, etc)
Property constraints (current land use, zoning, as-of-right development density, etc)

Continuous tasks for this project (Continuous Exercise - suitability model critique, LABEL "SMC")
1. Review the criteria for suitability presented by the Shimberg study. Add to the list from your own observations and knowledge.

-summarized from "EVALUATING SUITABLE LOCATIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND PRESERVATIONS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN FLORIDA: THE AHS MODEL", page 5;

• Physical Infrastructure and Environment 
• Neighborhood Characteristics
• Neighborhood Accessibility
• Rental Housing Cost
• Driving Cost
• Transit Accessibility

(...this article was part of the originally assigned reading, in this post)

2. Review the recommendations for preservation of affordable housing from the Shimberg presentation (v3). Add to the list.

-from Shimberg Center Document, "Present_110714_v3", slide 22;

Preservation Recommendations

1. Preserve affordable multifamily developments in proximity to SunRail stations.
2. Preserve assisted housing for families with children in areas that offer quality schools and low poverty levels as well as high transit access to work.
3. Prepare for the LIHTC “Year 30” expiration problem well in advance of the beginning of property loss in the early 2020s, particularly for properties at high risk of affordability loss (for-profit owned, well-located and in good condition).
4. Develop a strong local infrastructure for preservation. See the examples of interagency coordination in Chicago and preservation ordinance/preservation near transit in Denver as models.

-from slide 37;

Potential Strategies

• Prevent displacement via regulation 
• Preserve transit-oriented development (TOD)-appropriate affordable housing 
• Increase affordable homeownership opportunities 
• Promote affordable housing development 
• Preserve affordable housing development opportunities 
• Reduce the cost of housing production 
• Leverage market-rate development 
• Promote transit amongst low-income populations 
• Site public facility investments in station area 

The most important strategies for inner city sites: 

• Preserve existing project-based Section 8 and other subsidized housing 
• Prevent displacement via regulation 
• Reduce the cost of developing mixed-income housing 

-from slide 38;

Tools to Implement Strategies

• Options for Financing Affordable Housing Near Transit-Oriented Development 
• Public Land Disposition Plan 
• Land Banking Funds 
• Parking Regulations
• Linkage Fees 
• Joint Public/Private Development 
• Infill Development or Redevelopment in Transit Zones 
• Tax Increment Financing
• Fast-track permitting
• Fee waivers, reductions, and deferrals
• Regulatory accommodation for small sites
• Tax forgiveness for back taxes on affordable housing sites

Our additions to these lists will be from a different perspective and this is valuable.

Project 3 Introduction Regional Housing Situation and Urbanity. P3X1

We will carry our study or urban design with a focus on housing beyond Parramore.
We will investigate the results of decades of housing development tangled with decades of (sub)urban development. We will look for ground up opportunity and top down opportunity, as we have in the first two projects, in this broader context.

To introduce Project 3 I offer a set of resources and a puzzle.

The resources are found at the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies. In particular, a recent study performed by a group of students under the direction of William O'dell. This study looks at suitability of affordable housing in the Orlando region, Orange County as a whole. It introduces a tool for the investigation of the quality of current affordable housing stock and proposes a method of finding best sites for new affordable housing. The tool relies heavily on utilizing the positive impact of linkage and networks. These are systems which we have identified as being necessary contributors to defining the urban condition. It also points out a diminishment issue with current affordable housing availability with units at risk of deterioration or conversion to market rate rents.

Tasks (Exercise 1, P3X1):

1. Read these papers, become familiar with their concepts, sources (bibliographies and data) and vocabulary. Be prepared to discuss them. Download the reports here: an overview of the HSM , an evaluation of transit accessibility of affordable housing in the Orlando area, and an analysis of jobs-housing spatial mismatch. The homepage for this work is here. Post a reaction to the findings enclosed in these reports to the blog.
2. Browse and "master" the use of the  Florida Housing Data Clearinghouse.
3. Attempt to locate and visit one of the projects. Document your visit and add it to your post.

This may be done in groups similar to our first project. They may be the same groups.

Other resources:
OHA, which now includes Sanford.
Orange County Community Development
Florida Housing Coalition

Midterm Follow up Assignment

For Thursday, provide me with a near final draft of Chapter 1 (P1) and Chapter 2 (P2) book, in pdf form, pages not spreads. You may send it to me in whatever convenient way you can. Include on your first page a list of changes to LDC that are required to make your project happen.

Before we leave this behind, we will be attempting to complete the following tasks to perfect these proposals.

1. Troubleshoot the proforma? I am trying to get a visitor to help out with this.
2. Do an affordable/market/commercial mix? Tweak your proforma and see what you get?
3. Map - What if we implement this proposal in Parramore (Deron is pursuing this, engage him in the pursuit)

We will also try to enrich our understanding as well as share our discoveries and proposals with the neighborhood (the owner of the units), and with Bruce from planning (the person who compared these units to similar ones in Miami).

G8 Midterm is Around the Corner

It is important that each of you be able to talk about the existing conditions of the block in a knowledgeable way. Therefore, you must perform the spreadsheet inventory/analysis of the existing condition; the capacity estimate. I want to see and hear proposals Thursday. Keep working through different versions. Be in conversation with each other about them.

Midterm Deliverables (subject to adjustment):

1. Existing Program Capacity Estimate (spreadsheet)
2. Proposal Calculations and Proforma. This includes possible funding sources.(spreadsheet)
3. Provide a list of possible funding sources and basic details affecting there use in the project. (text) These are in the docs I put in dropbox for you. Use them. 
4. Proposal for property ownership (text). This is as much a social proposal as a development one.
5. Brief Context Investigation and other materials such as precedent or similar work that helps convey your concept (images, sketches)
6. Cull out the best of your model explorations and name them. I want you to be able to present options with thoughtfulness.
7. Prepare a plan set of one of the proposals (Site Plan, Floor Plans, Elevations, Sections. Get to the point where the proposal has some detail, scale and materiality. This should be a "rendered" set. Use tone, texture, photo materials, etc.

Your Existing Conditions Documentation (location plan, site plan, typical floor plans, elevations, sections) will form the basis for the presentation of your project. Use these drawings to create the relationships necessary to convey your proposal. To distinguish existing from proposed, make existing gray-line, proposed black-line.

Also, please read through this post again.

This page is a cheat sheet for incentives. These should appear in your Proforma.

P2 Introduction - Keep It Real

Keep it real.
Housing study in Parramore.
You are a benevolent developer. Someone who is interested in making the world a better place. I've heard it all before. You are interested in improving the living conditions of people of low or very low income. In order to make this happen you will solicit private funding but you also must maximize the potential grants and other assistance that is available.
The housing stock in Parramore varies but it is primary composed of wood frame single family bungalows from the turn of the century and small one and two story concrete block apartment buildings. I am fascinated by these. They are so brutal and so beautiful? Where did this type originate? We will look at a block of these units.

Site
The block defined by Randall, Colver, Jernigan, Westmoreland.

Randall, Colver, Jernigan, Westmoreland

For Monday
Existing Conditions Documentation (location plan, site plan, typical floor plans, elevations, sections)
Existing Program Capacity Estimate (spreadsheet)
Brief Adjacent Investigation
List of possible funding sources and basic details affecting there use in the project.
Proposal for property ownership scheme.
Be prepared to discuss the issues, in preparation for a charrette to follow.

Many of the issues you have been working with in our first project carry over into this one. For the most part you all have concentrated on activity in public space whether this is in actual publicly owned right of way or directly adjacent to it. By taking on the redevelopment of an entire block you will have to consider a variety of public space types. However, by introducing privacy, in the form of homes into this you now have more charged adjacencies.

Words
Community
Neighborhood
Association
Territory
Property
Ownership
Privacy
Presence
Inside/outside
Rules
Responsibilities
Stewardship
Time (cross sectional and longitudinal)
Density
Scale
Health
Safety
Happiness
Pets
Guests
Some of these words have similar meanings but there are meaningful differences.

Issues:
What is the origin of the current condition? What does it tell you about the place?
What other conditions are there in the immediate vicinity of the project? How does your project affect them?
Does the condition of property ownership affect the place? Investigate property ownership using Tax Appraiser website. How do you propose to organize property? What affect does the organization of ownership have on the community, the family, the individual? (Individual owner, Condominium, deed restricted neighborhood, etc).
What part does structure play, flexibility play? What are the limits of each?


Affordable Housing is a Civic Issue 
with a mandate. I will post documents that provide more information about the following programs in our Dropbox share folder.

Below, from City of Orlando Consolidated Plan, Strategic Plan Section.
See especially, 91.215 (b) Affordable Housing Strategy.

B.  Multifamily Rental Housing Rehabilitation
a. Summary of the Strategy: This strategy is designed to address the preservation of the affordable rental housing stock by improving its condition.  The funds may be used for the rehabilitation of multifamily rental projects citywide. Funds awarded under this strategy may also be used as a local contribution by developers participating in the Florida Housing’s Low Income Tax Credit Program or any other Federal, State, or local funding program that targets the rehabilitation of multifamily rental housing projects in the City.

"Promote equitable, affordable housing. Expand location- and energy-efficient housing choices for people of all ages, incomes, races, and ethnicities to increase mobility and lower the combined cost of housing and transportation."

Explore Incentives
The City of Orlando offers the following incentives to developers of affordable housing:
Federal, state or local funds
Capacity reservation set-asides
Reduced development fees
Impact Fee Grants
Density Bonus Program
*Alternative Housing Development Standards (encourage innovation)

The CDBG and HOME programs are formula based, entitlement grants provided by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

OHA Choice Neighborhoods Grant program

The City of Orlando’s Affordable Housing Assistance Program is intended to increase the availability of affordable residential units. The program coordinates and combines local resources and cost-saving measures into a local housing partnership and uses private and public funds to reduce the cost of housing.

How much money could you expect to acquire from these sources toward your development? This required developing a spreadsheet to test scenarios. (Other parametric modeling methods?)

More Money?
How would you go about soliciting other investment? Syndication? Trusts (REITs)? How does the investor affect the development picture?

P1 From the Ground Up in Parramore

​

This studio intended to explore the role of Architecture in redevelopment. The context for our first investigation is the Parramore District, a varied fabric of historically African American neighborhoods that have suffered decline and blight. More than a decade ago the city of Orlando put in place a redevelopment plan. Currently this plan is undergoing a major revision.

Three main tasks kick off investigation of Parramore and its neighborhoods.

• Map accumulation and investigation
• Research history and future 
• First hand experience
  

The goal is to be able to discuss redevelopment from the top down and from the bottom up.

Identify:

Amenities & Social Infrastructure (Physical/Social Structures).These will provide clues.

Space (borrowed, squatted, temporary, etc)

Partnerships (group share, etc)

Community assets

Social Practices (leadership, eldership, cooperation, recreation, gardening, etc)

Stability (access, services, safety, environment, etc)

Mobility (advancement, opportunity, etc)

Ownership (voice, ability to modify and adapt, make one's own)

Flexibility (how do people "fit")

Growth (can space accommodate future) also, retract?

Perform three self portraits in the District. Post these along with your other findings. You may divide your posts according to categories and devise simple one word labels for them..

Read as many of the texts as you can!

Hackable Cities: A Toolkit for Re-Imagining Your Neighborhood, by Cecilia Tham's Studio of Strategic Design + Management Program, Parsons The New School for Design. (c) 2014. Available on ISSUU, http://issuu.com/pgildner/docs/hackable-cities-pages/1

Tactical Urbanism Vol 1, Street Plans Collaborative. ISSUU, http://issuu.com/streetplanscollaborative/docs/tactical_urbanism_vol.1/1

Tactical Urbanism Vol 2, Street Plans Collaborative. ISSUU, http://issuu.com/streetplanscollaborative/docs/tactical_urbanism_vol_2_final/1

Bottom-Up Urbanism: A Survey of Temporary Use in Europe, David Glick. ISSUU, http://issuu.com/davidglick/docs/bottom-up_urbanism/1

Public Interest Design: Evaluating Public Architecture. A collaborative report by the University of Texas School of Architecture Center for Sustainable Development, its Public Interest Design Externship Program, and Public Architecture. ISSUU. http://issuu.com/publicarchitecture/docs/pid_externship_report_2012-13_final/1

Parklets- Experiments in Urban Public Space. Research Report from 2012 Public Interest Design Summer Program's Externship with Public Architecture. ISSUU. http://issuu.com/giladmeron/docs/parklets_issuu/1

Handmade Urbanism. Planum the Journal of Urbanism. ISSUU. http://issuu.com/planumnet/docs/handmade_urbanism_total_pdf/1

Kickstart Urbanism, starting planning projects is difficult but can be helped by kickstart urbanism. Markus Appenzeller MLA+, ISSUU. http://issuu.com/mlaplus/docs/kickstart_urbanism/1

Atlantis #23.2 Re-thinking Practice. TU Delft. 11/2012.ISSUU. http://issuu.com/atlantismagazine/docs/atlantis__23.2_re-thinking_practice/1

In Favour Of Public Space. First of European Prize for Urban Public Space. Actar Publishers. ISSUU. http://issuu.com/actar/docs/publicspace/1

British Pavilion Curators Interview: Crimson Architectural Historians. The Architectural Review: (2014) http://youtu.be/pbtN3xAsFE8