5 INDUSTRIAL MIXED USE BUILDINGS IN NEW YORK In November 2018 the New York City Department of City Planning produced a report titled “Can Industrial Mixed-Use Buildings Work in New York?” The report looked at the M (manufacturing) districts to see if new industrial space could be created by the private market by including industrial space within buildings that include uses that generate higher rents such as office or residential uses. The study concluded that many light industrial uses would be compatible with other uses including residential. The long term shift towards a service and information economy was seen as a way to increase jobs in New York and these could be located in the M districts. The report presented diagrams of mixed use buildings with retail, industrial and residential uses. LONG ISLAND MIXED USE PROJECT IN NEW YORK The New York City Economic Development Corporation has developed a plan “to transform two City owned sites on Long Island City waterfront into a groundbreaking mixed-use project that combines industrial and commercial office with residential space in order to support 21st century jobs and innovation. The project will include 250 units of affordable housing with 500,000 square feet of space for jobs of the future.” 100,000 square feet will be for light industrial uses. INTEGRATING LIGHT INDUSTRIAL INTO MIXED USE IN ATLANTA Atlanta has explored the potential to integrate light industry into mixed-use development that includes residential. In an article by Dan Cotter of Georgia Tech he examines 12 existing mixed-use industrial districts in the United States including Battle Ground, WA; Berkeley, CA; Boulder, CO; Miami, FL; Pittsburgh, PA and San Francisco, CA among others. Carter finds that some districts regulate the mix of uses by a percentage of floor space. Other districts use urban design guidelines to ensure good integration of residential and industrial uses that enliven street edges. Miami integrates industrial uses into several districts in its form-based code, Miami 21. The Atlanta report recommended that light industrial mixed use precincts incorporating residential uses were a positive way forward. VANCOUVER’S RESIDENTIAL-INDUSTRIAL PROJECT The City of Vancouver has designated a strip along East Hastings as a PDR (Production, Design, Repair) area in an effort to retain or expand industrial jobs. The aim is to use the economic pull of market housing to support industrial uses and social housing. The Strathcona Village project is the first to respond to this mixed-use zoning and its design has selected an industrial look to the apartments that reflect the colourful containers of the docks nearby. The project includes 60,000 square feet of light industrial uses as well as 280 market apartments (condos) and 70 social housing units. Long Island Mixed Uses Vancouver Residential – Industrial – Strathcona Village