Mixed Use Outperforms Big Box Development

Tax revenue-per-acre figures for big box developments are only slightly higher than residential developments, and not as high as mixed use project, according to this column from Mary Newsom.

1 minute read

July 13, 2010, 6:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg


"Sarasota County Director of Smart Growth Peter Katz, speaking to a meeting of Citistates Associates here late last month, described a recent analysis of the county's property tax revenue per acre. He pointed first to residential areas. Not surprisingly, when you work the numbers on a per-acre basis, residential property inside the county's municipalities offered the biggest revenue per acre - a little more than $8,200 per acre for single family houses within the city of Sarasota. This makes sense, as in-town land values tend to be higher.

Next, Katz showed the results from retail properties. Here comes surprise No. 1.: Big box stores such as WalMart and Sam's Club, when analyzed for county property tax revenue per acre, produce barely more than a single family house; maybe $150 to $200 more a year, Katz said."

These findings challenge conventional wisdom, according to Newsom. More surprising is that mixed use developments produce even higher tax revenue-per-acre.

Sunday, July 11, 2010 in Citiwire

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