Page 52 - Green Builder Magazine Jul-Aug 2021

Dining out. Formal dining rooms, a
standard in typical upper-middle class
homes, are giving way to well-organized
spaces that can accommodate remote
working, schooling and home fitness.
CREDIT: MARTIN-DM/ISTOCK

unused parking areas and vehicle infrastructure into higher With the revival of the suburbs, developers are retrofitting
priority uses that are important to today’s homeowners, like underused suburban buildings and parking lots, replacing them
parks, bike paths, walking trails, community gathering areas, with communities and amenities that respond to the shifting
co-working spaces, mixed-use facilities, retail, and multifamily needs of today’s homebuyers.
housing options. One example: the Bell Labs complex in Holmdel, New Jersey.
Once the research and development facility for Bell Telephone, the
THE MISSING MIDDLE sprawling building and 430-acre campus has been redeveloped into
With the surge in remote working, homebuyers can now live a “Metroburb” with mixed-use housing and personal services, as
where they want to play, rather than where they have to work. well as office, retail, entertainment, hospitality, and fitness spaces.
As more homebuyers choose to live away from the urban hubbub, Bell Works has a quarter-mile long central atrium that serves
developers are responding in turn. as a community gathering area, an extensive co-work space, a
In terms of “ownership rings”—distance-based living zones farmers’ market, a yoga studio, a salon, a Montessori school, and
that emanate from a central spot outward—land in inner suburbs even a branch of the local public library.
typically costs 20 percent to 40 percent more than land in the next Across the country, the suburban revival is giving a second
ring out. Once considered “next cycle” or “drive ’til you qualify” life to abandoned suburban malls, office parks, and parking lots.
opportunities, these outer suburbs have become very desirable. This movement is contributing to the development of vibrant
They allow developers to acquire cheaper land upon which they communities that reflect the demands of today’s homebuyer.
can create amenity-packed communities that allow homeowners It also has the potential to address several of our nation’s most
to buy more “home” for their buck and achieve a higher quality urgent challenges.
of life for their families. One such challenge is affordable housing—every night in the
These newly developed suburbs, generally built on large pieces U.S., 500,000 people sleep on the streets, and we have a shortage
of land located 30 to 45 minutes from downtown urban markets, of 7 million affordable housing units nationwide. By transforming
offer the conveniences of the city, like retail stores, restaurants, underused suburban spaces into affordable housing units, like
and personal services, while also supplying much in-demand duplexes, quadplexes, townhouses, and even accessory dwelling
elbow room and connection with nature. units, we can rebuild the base of our housing market.
Another crucial challenge: resiliency. By “regreening”
ADAPTIVE REUSE suburbia—such as turning parking lots and paved areas back
Vestiges of 20th century suburban life are littered across America: into natural habitats—municipalities can reintroduce ecological
dead malls, vacated office parks, and ghost box stores—all diversity, and mitigate the risk and impact of disasters like super
remnants of an outdated lifestyle. storms, flooding and sea level rise. GB

50 GREEN BUILDER July/August 2021 www.greenbuildermedia.com