CenterState CEO Convenes Task Force to Examine Housing Demand Challenges

Housing remains a focus for the CenterState CEO Strategy, Policy and Planning team ahead of Micron Technology’s arrival to Central New York. The semiconductor chip manufacturer, their suppliers, and other regional projects are expected to bring exponential growth to the region over the next couple of decades. Preliminary estimates suggest that an additional 2,500 housing units per year will need to be built to keep up with demand. This compounds existing demand resulting from a housing construction “gap” that has grown for several years following the 2008 “Great Recession”[1].

In response to this challenge, CenterState CEO is convening a housing task force. The Task Force will work to:

1. Develop and affirm principles to guide the advocacy efforts and the staff on state and local policy, major infrastructure investments that might emerge, or on individual projects.
2. Build awareness among public, private and nonprofit partners on the scope of the challenge, analyze data, publish reports, research best practices and advocate for policy and projects that can make a meaningful impact and advance identified principles.
3. Support partners that are undertaking studies, taking care not to duplicate, as well as support the development of capacity within the region’s ecosystem to ensure the ability to meet the moment.

The Task Force aims to mitigate harmful market solutions that will arise without proper planning and intervention. Market solutions alone will likely drive-up housing costs and lead to sprawl. To keep up with housing demand, developers and builders will need to move to undeveloped land close to the Micron site and comply with existing zoning rules that often don’t provide space for multi-family housing, require large lot zoning, or have excessive parking requirements[2].

This result can be seen in growth communities across the country, and is contrary to the values that brought Micron to Central New York: housing will move into new areas, retail and commercial uses will follow, roads will be widened, greenhouse gases will increase, housing prices and taxes will rise, older parts of the community will be left behind, and economic and racial segregation will persist.

The Task Force will work to meet the region’s significant demand for housing without creating unsustainable, inequitable conditions that often result from significant economic investment. CenterState CEO members who are interested in working on the Task Force can contact Dave Mankiewicz.