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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 ver-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 with- <br />in ahalf-mile radius of a station location and the amount of this station area in protected green- <br />spaceand land less likely to develop or redevelop because of its current use (for example, existing <br />single family residential homes). These station areas are mapped and described on the next page. <br />KEY POINTS: <br />1. Property value and tax revenue benefits from station area development would accrue 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. Although Chapel Hill and Durham City would accrue benefits, the current financial model does <br />not assume any value capture or contributions from municipalities. <br />4. 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 />