Inclusionary Zoning

Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning (MIH) requires a real estate developer to add affordable housing within areas that are rezoned as part of a development project. These inclusions would then be necessary in order to facilitate the building of new residential housing. It’s a trade-off of sorts. Such as, “Want to build here? Include some affordable housing there.”

In essence, Mandated inclusionary Zoning becomes a sort of de-facto voluntary exercise. Meaning, projects just don’t need to be undertaken by developers. As such, Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning has – arguably – flaws within its construct. This is so because real estate development occurs only after a projected business model is analyzed by project stakeholders. Analyzed, with an expected return-on-investment determined by the assessors. Mandating the building of affordable housing could be a “deal-pause.”