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TODs alone the silver bullet solution?
Posted on Thursday, April 28 2011 at 8:54 AM
Governments have latched on to the transit-oriented development (TOD) concept as the silver bullet solution to population growth, but a dose of reality and support is needed to get them up and running successfully, according to Minter Ellison Lawyers partner Cameron Charlton.
Speaking at a Property Council of Australia event in Brisbane recently, Charlton said a TOD must be far more than just the construction of flats beside a rail line.
"They need to be liveable, walkable communities," he said.
After visiting some TOD examples across the United States of America over recent years, Charlton said the model examples were in the light-rail districts of Portland, Oregon, where buildings were constructed low-rise with detailed attention given to neighbourhood character and landscaping, not just loaded with concrete and bitumen.
He said just plonking in mixed-use buildings beside a public transport route with shops below and flats or apartments above can leave the area hollow if not suited to the particular demand of the area.
It's also critical for developers to construct to local standards and remain competitive with local property prices, Charlton said.
"It has to be site specific not just a cookie-cutter approach,
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To create a true community, a decent parcel of land is required because if the land in the designated TOD area has fragmented ownership it can be quite difficult to assemble for development, said Charlton.
Queensland's Yeerongpilly TOD and Bowen Hills TOD are good examples of large parcels of assembled land ready for master planning and development, he said.
Charlton said other core elements behind a successful TOD include a frequent, timetable-free transit service through the transport corridor.
"TODs will only work if residents can go outside and jump on a train or bus or rail in the next couple of minutes," he said.
"What we also find in some of the middle-ring suburbs is that often the public transport doesn't go where they work so some of the
TODs aren't effective in that sense because people will still jump in the car."
As a result, transport routes need to be more seriously considered in the planning of TODs, said Charlton.
What would really be a ball-roller for TODs in Queensland is for the State Government, in alignment with its decentralisation department policy, to take the first step forward in committing to a commercial building for department use in each TOD, Charlton said.
Shifting a workforce to a new community with frequent public transport service would faster lure tenants and property investors and be the first paver laid into the new community, he said.
The government is already considering this idea seriously, said Charlton.
Further incentives for developers and buyers of TOD accommodation should also be considered, he said.
Charlton refers to an example in the US, where local authorities get on board to help make
TODs work through incentives such as 10-year holidays on land tax payments.
The further postponement of Brisbane's Cross River Rail project to 2020 is just one of the factors in the slowdown of the Woolloongabba urban development area, but the Yeerongpilly TOD will be "in the market" over the next few months and the Bowen Hills TOD at the RNA Showgrounds is already under construction with its industrial area, said Charlton.
While the TODs are still moving, he said they are after all considered commercial projects and subject to finance restrictions including high pre-sale conditions,
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Ability for the market to absorb new supply is another key factor for developers taking on the projects,
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More innovative infrastructure charge mechanisms need to be implemented, and further strengthening of partnerships between the public and private sector needs to happen first, said Charlton.
"If governments are to attract private sector investment in
TODs they must offer project facilitation assistance, including coordination of government agency involvement," he said.
"Red tape, bickering between transit agencies and planning authorities and cumbersome approval processes are likely to frighten away the hardiest of developers from station locations.
"Having said that, as long as TOD confers both public and private benefits, there is no replacement for public-private partnerships in advancing TOD implementation as clearly they can produce win-win outcomes,
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