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Study finds Burien could use TDR/LCLIP tools to fund infrastructure; MFTE-linked incentives look most promising
Summary
Consultants told the Planning Commission that a transfer-of-development-rights (TDR) program tied to the county's LCLIP allocation could generate material infrastructure funding in multiple scenarios; incentive zoning was less effective under current market conditions, while MFTE-linked tax-expenditure incentives and calibrated credit pricing showed promise.
Consultants from Eco Northwest presented a feasibility study on May 13 that assessed whether Burien could implement Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) and access the King County LCLIP program to fund local infrastructure.
Morgan (Eco Northwest) framed the program as a market mechanism: developers buy development-rights credits from sending (typically rural) sites so they can increase density in receiving areas; if a city can retire credits and meet LCLIP milestones, it can access shared incremental property tax revenue from the county over a 25-year period. "This is the program in essence," Morgan said.
The consultants tested multiple incentive pathways and three development prototypes (townhomes in R-2/R-3, garden apartments in MU-1/BP, and podium apartments in MU-2). They used pro forma/residual land-value analysis to estimate where incentives would create enough additional value for a developer to voluntarily pay for credits. Their headline numbers: Burien has an allocation of 273 credits from PSRC; under a conservative scenario they estimated placing ~85 credits over the program horizon, a mid-range scenario placed roughly two-thirds (~175) of the allocation, and an optimistic scenario placed as many as ~257 credits.
Key findings and trade-offs the consultants presented: - Incentive zoning (allowing greater density in exchange for credit purchases) showed promise in lower-density R-2/R-3 townhouse contexts (e.g., going from 4 to 6 units) but was generally not sufficiently valuable in denser mixed-use podium projects under current market conditions. - A tax-expenditure approach using the multifamily property tax exemption (MFTE) tied to credit purchases proved more effective for larger apartment products. In that model, the tax-exemption value can be calibrated so the developer keeps an incentive while directing a portion of the benefit to buy TDR credits. - Program uptake depends on calibration: the percent of MFTE value required to buy credits (the study modeled 50% and 70% scenarios) and the credit price materially change outcomes; lower credit prices or higher participation increases placed credits and revenue.
The study warned of implementation constraints: the city must decide how many of the 273 credits to accept (20% to 100% is allowed), hit placement milestones every five years to unlock LCLIP revenue, and design incentive geography and eligibility carefully. Consultants also flagged the need to align MFTE rules to avoid developers simply choosing a more valuable MFTE path unrelated to TDR participation.
Commissioners pressed the consultants on feasibility, program milestones, credit pricing, and whether Burien could change the accepted-credit share later; consultants said the accepted share is set in ordinance but subsequent rounds of code amendments and new allocations could be possible if conditions change.
Next steps: consultants will refine revenue forecasts and calibrations and return to the Commission; staff plan to brief City Council and continue detailed code drafting and public outreach before a decision about whether to accept an allocation and adopt a TDR/LCLIP program.
Why it matters: If implemented and calibrated, TDR paired with LCLIP could provide a long-term, area-focused revenue stream to fund sidewalks, greenway and other infrastructure in Burien. The size of that revenue depends on credit placement, pricing and market absorption of denser housing prototypes.
