Here’s a great piece by Phillip Langdon about the tax implications of dense urban development vs. big box retail.
On a per-acre basis, sprawling single-use developments such as big-box stores do a poor job of providing governments with needed tax revenue. Dense, mixed-use development, usually downtown or adjacent to transit, is financially much more beneficial.
Since the Atlanta BeltLine is being funded through a Tax Allocation District, any bonds that are issued to pay for capital investments are paid for by property taxes generated from new development. Take a look at these numbers:
From a tax revenue-per-acre (versus per lot or per household) perspective, the properties that are typically occupied by retailers like Walmart, Costco, and Sam’s Club turn out to be very disappointing. They generate about $8,350 per acre — “maybe $150 to $200 more per acre per year than single-family houses in the city like mine,” Katz says.
“Even a mid-rise mixed-use building — about seven to nine Stories — in the downtown brings in a healthy amount per year, from the mid-$500,000s to just under $800,000,” he says. “Low-rise construction — just two or three stories, with housing or offices over retail — the kind of ‘town center’ redevelopment now replacing many older suburban shopping areas, can bring in around $70-90,000 per acre. The high end of that range is more than four times that of the county’s highest earning mall,” Katz emphasizes.
This is yet another reason why we should insist on dense urban development along the SE segment of the BeltLine and oppose big box retail on Glenwood Ave.
