Impact of the Miami 21's parking requirements on the real estate developments in the city of Miami

Abstract

In the last years, Fort Lauderdale, West Beach, and Miami together became the 8th largest metropolitan area in the U.S. with a population of approximately 6 million people. During the last four years the population of such area increased almost 5%. Along with the population, the number of jobs and firms, the supply of new homes, the car commuters, and traffic congestion increased exponentially throughout the area, especially in Miami. The former Miami zoning code, Z.O. 11000, incentivized the large availability and construction of parking spaces in new real estate developments throughout the city, encouraging people to own and use cars even more. The excess of parking spaces due to the former parking requirements, in practice, generated two distinct, immediate effects: (i) an increase in the number of cars throughout the streets; and (ii) higher construction costs for real estate developers. In 2010, the City of Miami adopted the Miami 21 form-based zoning code, changing the zoning and parking requirements. These changes incentivized the construction of transit-oriented developments throughout the city. The parking ratios for all the uses were reduced and some exceptions to the parking requirements were implemented, especially for new residential developments in urbanized transects. The reduction in parking ratios diminished significantly the construction costs of parking garages for real estate developers, increasing their returns on investments. The outcome is that real estate developers became even more interested in developing in the core of Miami. In addition to these economic incentives, the new residents of Miami are willing to live, work, and play in the same area without having to commute long distances. These conditions are transforming the skyline of Miami. There are now approximately 50 new residential developments being built in transit-oriented areas throughout the city, which represents an increase of more than 400% within the last 15 years. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze (i) the current parking requirements; (ii) the impact of parking ratios in the construction costs; and (iii) the changes that occurred in the location of new constructions in Miami after the adoption of the Miami 21.