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8 <br /> Property Value and Property Tax <br /> Increases in property value (and resultant property tax revenues) associated with LRT <br /> investments have been well-documented. These increases are made up of two components: <br /> 1. Additional amounts and types of development that can occur because of the transit <br /> investment. More intense development may be both marketable and able to secure local <br /> government approval because of the greater access and mobility provided by the investment. <br /> 2. Greater per-unit value for any given type and amount of development because of the mobility <br /> and access benefits associated with the LRT investment. Several studies of LRT investments <br /> have found per-unit value premiums for properties closest to LRT stations, including single <br /> family home and condominium sales prices, apartment rental rate, office real estate value and <br /> retail real estate value. The nature of these premiums vary widely among the studies. <br /> The Gateway, Leigh Village, Meadowmont and Hillmont stations were examined to identify the <br /> potential for transit-oriented development in each jurisdiction, based on the amount of land <br /> within a half-mile radius of a station location and the amount of this station area in protected <br /> greenspace and land less likely to develop or redevelop because of its current use (for example, <br /> existing single family residential homes). These station areas are mapped and described on the <br /> next page. <br /> KEY POINTS: <br /> 1. Property value and tax revenue benefits from station area development and redevelopment <br /> would accrue primarily to: <br /> a. Gateway Station: Chapel Hill, Orange County and Durham County. <br /> b. Leigh Village Station: Durham City and Durham County <br /> c. Hillmont Station: Chapel Hill and Durham County <br /> d. Meadowmont Station: Durham County, Orange County, Chapel Hill <br /> 2. In Orange County, virtually all new station area development is anticipated to be nonresidential; <br /> in Durham County, it is anticipated to be a mix of residential and nonresidential development. <br /> 3. UNC-Chapel Hill could also see a "redevelopment" benefit if the Friday Center park-ride lot is <br /> displaced by park-ride facilities associated with the Leigh Village Center or other locations. <br /> IMPORTANT CAVEATS: <br /> 1. Exact station locations, and more precisely the locations of pedestrian entrances to the stations, <br /> will affect the station walk zones and implied property value benefits associated with easy access. <br /> 2. Where stations are close together, pedestrian access zones overlap, and benefits would be <br /> divided among stations depending on ease of access. <br /> 3. Parcels "less likely to develop" were identified using the parcels and methods of the NC54 <br /> corridor study, focusing on the physical characteristics of land. Actual development and <br /> redevelopment potential involves a more complex set of issues, especially where large insti- <br /> tutional parcels are involved; for example on UNC property or at the Blue Cross Blue Shield site. <br /> Page 16 <br />