(Community Matters) I’m thrilled to read our city council is considering adopting a systematized downtown density bonus program.
Tom Stacey & Taylor Andrews are friends and civic-minded developers. Their concerns should matter to us, and we should take a lesson from those communities that have proceeded successfully.
Of course developers are going to oppose mandatory fees or amenities for density bonuses. One of the largest contributors to developers profits is their negotiating of extra density allowances – they buy property with certain limits for development (priced accordingly), obtain extra allowances and are therefore able to generate higher than originally forecasted profits. If we don’t allow enough room for profitability, we’ll kill the golden goose.
Nevertheless, developers and investors want predictability – this will lower costs. Establishing a fair, predictable system which articulates costs upfront will lower the cost of capital and encourage dense development. And, of course, it’s perfectly okay to require developers to share a portion of extra value created by density bonuses.
Community Matters 
What reads well in a resolution does not always play out well when considering the need for a dense core, social benefits and performance spaces. There are likey more examples across the nation of density bonuses (cash payments) thwarting development across the nation than helping achieve a dense core.