The State’s Regional Early Action Planning (REAP) grant program has supported the creation of the Other-to-Residential Toolkit, a unique tool that guides planners and policymakers step-by-step in facilitating more residential development in their jurisdictions by converting underutilized non-residential (other) land uses to residential.
With the growing housing crisis across the State and the built-out nature of cities in the SCAG region, the Toolkit aims to provide a resource for decision-makers to think outside the box to stimulate more housing production and focuses on the conversion potential of commercial uses, emphasizing retail strip centers, gas stations, brownfields, and golf courses.
What Is In The Toolkit?
The Toolkit contains a “step-by-step” guide as a clear path to conversion of these site typologies including direction on identifying viable sites for residential conversion, case studies of best practices and implementable actions, and a toolbox of policies, programs, and initiatives for agencies to consider.
- Step-by-Step Guide: guides readers on how to identify potential opportunity sites of a specific site typology, the existing issues and barriers to their conversion, potential tools for agency action to facilitate housing development and potential project/site conversion scenario examples.
- Other-to-Residential Toolbox: detailed resources and tools that include guidance on removing regulatory barriers, reducing development risk, and brownfield remediation. The toolbox provides an explanation of each tool along with examples of how to apply them.
- Case Studies: illustrate real-world examples of residential conversion of the four site typologies discussed in the Toolkit.
Who Should Use The Toolkit?
Developers, planners, builders, decision-makers and anyone involved and interested in residential housing production.
Other-to-Residential Toolkit StoryMap
The Other-to-Residential Toolkit includes an interactive StoryMap that features key highlights of the toolkit, including success stories of site conversions into residential, the methodology for identifying sites, and an overview of the toolkit.
Click here to view the StoryMap.
Contact
David Kyobe
Associate Regional Planner
kyobe@scag.ca.gov
(213) 236-1858
