1. Hooksett TIF District Build-Out Analysis Preliminary Results
Hooksett TIF District Committee Meeting
October 3, 2017
Nathan Miller, AICP Deputy Executive Director

2. What are the boundaries of the Route 3A TIF District?

3. Hooksett Route 3A TIF District Boundaries As Adopted by The Town Council (in Red)
Hooksett TIF District Boundaries as presented on 3/8/17 and adopted by the Town Council on 3/23/17.
71 Parcels
Approx. 659 Acres
But, isn’t the size of the TIF District 730+ acres?
No, because the size of parcel 29-1 is not actually acres. This appears to be a typo in the Town’s assessing data.

4. Hooksett Route 3A TIF District Boundaries As Detailed in Town GIS Data (in Yellow)
TIF District Boundaries as detailed on Hooksett’s online GIS database.
72 Parcels
Approx. 646 Acres
Compared to the TIF Boundaries adopted in March 2017, the map:
Includes: Parcels 17-5, , and
Does not Include: Parcels and

5. Hooksett Route 3A TIF District Boundaries As Presented in ADG Report (in Green)
TIF District Boundaries as presented in the ADG Report “Financing Commercial and Industrial Sewer Infrastructure” from October 2016.
78 Parcels (74 of 78 included in financial analysis)
Approx. 753 Acres (without 29-1)
Compared to the TIF Boundaries adopted in March 2017, the map:
Includes: Parcels 10-62, 17-5, , 18-4, , 24-31, 24-37, 29-0, 29-52, and A
Does not Include: Parcels 7-18, 29-1, and

6. Hooksett Route 3A TIF District Build-out Analysis Boundaries
For the purpose of the Build-out Analysis, we are using the TIF District Boundaries as adopted by the Town Council in March.
The adopted TIF District Boundary is:
Approx. 95 acres smaller than proposed in the ADG study; and
Approx. 73 acres smaller than anticipated at the time the TIF District was adopted (in part, due to the actual size of parcel 29-1).

7. What types of development are allowed in the Route 3A TIF District?

8. Zoning in the Route 3A TIF District
There are three land use zones covering the Route 3A TIF District.
Medium Density Residential
Commercial
Mixed Use District 3

9. Mixed Use District #3 (MUD3)
Mixed Use District 3 includes 31 TIF District parcels surrounding I-93 Exit 10.
Key MUD-3 Stipulations:
2-acre minimum lot size
Most retail and business uses allowed by-right.
Industrial and warehousing uses allowed by special exception.
50% impervious coverage maximum.

10. Commercial District (COM)
Commercial District includes 37 TIF District parcels surrounding I-93 Exit 11 and areas adjacent to Route 3A.
Key COM Stipulations:
1-acre minimum lot size (1/2 acre if served by water/sewer).
Most retail, business, and lodging uses allowed by-right.
Industrial and warehousing uses not allowed.
70% impervious coverage maximum.

11. Medium Density Residential (MDR)
MDR District includes 3 TIF District parcels:
7-18 (Town of Hooksett)
29-1 (New Hampshire DOT)
29-77 (Northeast Record Retention)
Key MDR Stipulations:
By-right uses are focused on single-family, two-family, and multi-family residential.
Most retail and business uses NOT allowed.
Industrial and warehousing uses NOT allowed.
30% impervious coverage maximum.

12. Medium Density Residential (MDR)
Parcels 7-18, 29-1, and are all vacant with development potential.
The land area of these vacant parcels totals approximately 43 acres.
The stated objective of the Route 3A TIF District is to encourage non-residential development on non-residential properties.
Until/unless the zoning for these parcels is changed, these properties cannot be assumed to have non-residential development potential.

13. What exists in the Route 3A TIF District today?

14. Undeveloped Parcels in the Route 3A TIF District (in Green)
21 Parcels in the Route 3A TIF District are undeveloped.
6 of the 21 undeveloped parcels are publicly-owned.
15 of the 21 undeveloped parcels are privately-owned.
Three of the publicly-owned parcels are being held for utility purposes and are assumed to have no commercial development potential.
(City of Manchester), (Manchester Water Works), and (Manchester Water Works).

15. Developed Parcels in the Route 3A TIF District (in Purple)
50 Parcels in the Route 3A TIF District have some form of existing development.
36 Parcels have some form of non-residential development.
14 Parcels have only residences.
The intensity of existing non-residential uses is very low.

16. Developed Parcels in the Route 3A TIF District (in Purple)
Development Totals in the TIF District:
Commercial Uses – 1,080,528 SF
Auto Repair
Gas/Convenience Stores
Retail/Department/Grocery Stores
Restaurants/Fast Food
Office/Professional Buildings
Industrial Uses - 303,753 SF
Warehousing
Light Industry
Residential Uses - 21 Residences

17. How do we determine if a developed parcel is “Built-out?”

18. Guiding Assumptions for the Build-out Analysis
Guidance from Town staff is that the TIF District Build-out analysis should assume a continuation of historical development trends in the area.
There is no reason to expect that the development of sewer infrastructure will change the character of the area in the future.
Convenient access to Interstate 93 has resulted in the Route 3A TIF District area developing into an automobile-oriented commercial area.
Further development in the corridor is likely to be centered around automobile-oriented commercial uses.

19. Tailwinds for Development in the Route 3A TIF District
The District has convenient access from two exits on Interstate 93 (Exit 10 and Exit 11).
Planned and ongoing capacity expansions of Interstate 93 both north (Bow-Concord) and south (Salem-Manchester) could funnel additional traffic into the TIF District.
Vacant, developable land is available proximate to both the Exit 10 and Exit 11 interchanges.
Municipal government is amenable to economic development in the TIF District area.

20. Headwinds for Development in the Route 3A TIF District
There is a secular change in the retail industry right now that is threatening many of the brick-and-mortar retailers that may have historically wanted to locate in the TIF District.
E-commerce retailers like Amazon.com have been gaining market share while chain retailers have struggled.
Sears, JC Penney, Macy’s, and other “anchor retailers” are struggling in this environment and that situation is not likely to change soon.
As a result of these dynamics, development pressure may be limited from chain retail businesses even if sewer infrastructure is constructed.

21. What is Floor Area Ratio?
Floor Area Ratio (FAR) is the ratio between the total amount of usable floor area of a building and the total area of the lot that the building sits on.
Higher FAR reflects higher density. Lower FAR reflects a lower intensity of land use.
The average FAR for existing non-residential development in the Route 3A TIF District is This is a low Floor Area Ratio.
On average in the Route 3A TIF district, developers are using 10 SF of land to produce every 1 SF of non-residential space developed.
This low Floor Area Ratio is typical of highway-oriented commercial areas.

22. Floor Area Ratio Examples in the TIF District
Highest FAR in the TIF District (0.32)
Parcel 37-10
21,232 SF Commercial Building
1.51 Acre Lot
Average FAR in the TIF District (0.10)
Parcel 37-5
76,600 SF Supermarket
18.46 Acre Lot

23. Build-out Assumptions (Continued)
If we assume Build-out is a FAR of 0.10 and that existing residential-only properties in the District will one day become commercial, then our baseline is 53 parcels:
Vacant or Existing Residential-only Parcels (35 Parcels)
Parcels with Additional Development Potential (18 Parcels with FAR below 0.10)
Built-out Parcels (18 Parcels with FAR >0.10)

24. What are the constraints to building out those 53 Parcels?

25. Constraints to Development
As discussed earlier in this presentation…
Parcels 7-18 (Town of Hooksett), 29-1 (NHDOT), and (Northeast Record Retention) are removed from the analysis due to zoning constraints.
The land area of these parcels totals approximately 43 acres.
Parcels (City of Manchester), (Manchester Water Works), and (Manchester Water Works) are removed from the analysis as they are public utility lands.
The land area of these parcels totals approximately 13 acres.

26. Constraints to Development (Cont.)
Parcels 13-50, , 17-14, 17-15, and are removed from the analysis. All are existing riverfront homes and are unlikely to be redeveloped into commercial properties.
The land area of these parcels totals approximately 13 acres.

27. Constraints to Development (Cont.)
Parcels 10-77, 13-2, and are removed from the analysis. All are unlikely to ever see commercial development due to parcel geometry (60’-80’ wide) and environmental constraints from proximity to the river.
The majority of this land is NHDOT right-of-way.
The land area of these parcels totals approximately 10 acres.

28. Constraints to Development (Cont.)
Parcel 24-2 has been removed from the analysis. It is an existing residential parcel located largely within the Zone A floodplain.
Development within the Zone A floodplain is not necessarily prohibited in Hooksett, but it would be unlikely for a parcel of this size to become commercial given this constraint.
The land area of this parcel totals approximately 0.5 acres.

29. OK, what does that leave us with?

30. What Does That Leave Us With?
Vacant or Underdeveloped Parcels (38 Parcels)
Built-out or Undevelopable Parcels (33 Parcels)
What about wetlands?
Approx acres of wetlands were removed from the analysis.
What about steep slopes?
Approx acres of steep slopes were removed from the analysis.

31. Preliminary Build-out Results
Estimated Development Potential from Vacant Parcels in the TIF District:
Additional 713,120 SF of non-residential floor space.
Estimated Development Potential from Underdeveloped Parcels in the TIF District:
Additional 597,330 SF of non-residential floor space.
TOTAL: Approx Million SF of non-residential development potential.

32. Preliminary Build-out Results
Thus, 1.31 Million SF of non-residential development is the “theoretical maximum” level of development potential in the TIF District.
This level of development may or may not occur in the future, and is not subject to any timeline.
Additional data is needed from the Town’s Assessing Department to translate these figures into potential TIF revenues.

33. Findings
Compared to the existing 1.38 Million SF of non-residential development in the TIF District, the total at build-out would nearly double this figure.
This may seem like a “lot,” but as a theoretical maximum level of development, it is not a “lot.” We would like to see more development potential in the TIF District given the size of the bond issue being considered.

34. Findings
The adopted TIF District boundaries are smaller than originally conceived.
Legal guidance would need to be obtained to determine whether TIF dollars could be spent on sewer infrastructure on the east side of the river given the adopted TIF District boundaries.
The existing intensity of non-residential use in the TIF District is low, with an average FAR of Thus, each 1 SF of development is requiring 10 SF of land.

35. Findings
The adopted TIF District boundaries are smaller than originally conceived.
The viability of the TIF District may be enhanced by the capacity of I-93 expansion work happening and planned both north and south of the district.
The viability of the TIF District may be harmed given the secular shift away from brick-and-mortar chain retail and toward e-commerce.

36. Findings
Three vacant parcels totaling 43 acres are not zoned for the types of uses envisioned in the TIF District.
The TIF District includes parcels that are not viable for commercial development because of public utility use, parcel geometry, environmental constraints, and existing waterfront residential uses.

37. Recommendations
Re-evaluate the boundaries of the TIF District to consider adding new properties both east of the river and west of I-93 to enhance the viability and development potential of the District.
Consider rezoning existing Medium Density Residential (MDR) properties within the TIF District to allow non-residential uses as envisioned in the TIF District Plan.

38. Questions?