Client:  Village of Northfield (IL)

GG+A was retained by the Village of Northfield to identify for the Northfield Road corridor the real estate economics of representative existing conditions and prototypical development alternatives given current zoning designations and alternatives to current zoning designations. GG+A drew inferences from a synthesis of the real estate economic analysis about the effect of Village of Northfield regulations on the potential of property owners/buyers investing in the redevelopment of existing properties on or adjoining the Northfield Road corridor. Based on the results of the real estate economic analysis of zoning options GG+A identified policy recommendations for strategies and tactics the Village could employ to facilitate the reinvention of Northfield Road to increase its competitive magnetism and demands that sustain private feasible development and property enhancements.

GG+A identified prototypical development alternatives on the basis of existing zoning regulations and hypothetical regulations. GG+A simulated the real estate investment results of prototypical multi-family rental development as well as the development of commercial uses under the existing and proposed zoning regulations. GG+A estimated the land value the postulated prototypical development alternatives could support based on the estimated cash flows produced from these cost and revenue estimates and stipulated financial terms and investment parameters from the viewpoint of a prospective developer. GG+A then compared the estimated supportable land value of the postulated scale and type of land use to the estimated minimum value of the existing land use on the applicable property. If the supportable land value of the redevelopment is not higher than the value the current use of the property would support, the inference that the redevelopment will not occur through private actions can be drawn.

In cases where the findings suggested that the real estate economics would not support the private, unassisted development of a given type of real estate, the analysis provided a measure of the public investment that would be required to encourage such development. In the recommendations derived from the results of the real estate economic analysis, consideration was also given to the role of land use regulations such as zoning changes in use and density as one approach to encouraging the maintenance and modernization of existing properties and the private redevelopment of Northfield Road land uses.

GG+A prepared a comprehensive report and presented the findings and recommendations to an advisory committee formed by the Village, which accepted the report.