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Housing gets built when three primary elements align: land, money, and timing.
Communities that make land work harder, close the financing gaps without breaking the bank, and run approvals on a predictable schedule see real results. Those that don’t do these things end up with rising costs, stalled projects, and unmet demand.
Camoin Associates’ work across the country shows a consistent playbook—and clear results when municipalities follow it.
1. Make Land Work Harder
Land is the foundation. Without buildable, appropriately zoned sites, nothing else matters. Zoning and site rules determine whether realistic formats—duplexes, townhomes, small multifamily—fit the ground.
Parking mandates, oversized lots, and single-use zoning eat up opportunity. When land is planned around infrastructure and allowed without requiring planning board approvals, developers can focus their money and time where it matters.
Camoin Associates’ Perspective
- A development feasibility analysis we completed for one of our upstate New York clients focused on translating housing needs into deliverable units like garden apartments and senior cottages.
- In neighboring Vermont, our work supports village-adjacent growth, balanced density with design guidance to preserve character.
- We recommended a client in Maine use a scored GIS inventory to develop a pipeline of prime investment parcels.
The Bottom Line: Land that is ready for development sets the stage for money to flow efficiently and for time to be spent building, not negotiating.
2. Close the Gap Without Breaking the Bank
Even the best land doesn’t get built without a workable pro forma. Rising costs and high interest rates leave projects underwater.
Municipal tools, such as density bonuses, fee relief, public land priced to reality, and infrastructure financing, can make money go further and attract private investment.
When financing works, developers can move quickly, shortening timelines.
Camoin Associates’ Perspective
- Reworking development specifications for a New York community demonstrated how adjusting parking and other requirements flipped sites from “no” to “maybe.”
- A Connecticut client is using tax increment financing (TIF) to cover off-site infrastructure, easing equity strain.
- Across northern New York, we helped communities unlock small projects in rural areas by supporting three elements of their capital stack: technical assistance, pre-development grants, and a loan fund.
The Bottom Line: Money makes land usable and time productive; without it, even shovel-ready sites sit idle.
3. Trim the Timeline and remove the Guesswork
Time is money. Every month that a project is delayed adds risk and cost. Clear checklists, firm timelines, government approvals, and a one-stop portal turn uncertainty into a predictable cycle time.
When developers know how long approvals take, they can plan their capital deployment and schedule construction with confidence.
Camoin Associates’ Perspective
- We recommended one of our clients create a portal with pre-approved plan sets and modernized zoning tracked through an implementation matrix.
- For another client, we suggested they work out a transparent public schedule for surveys and workshops in order to reduce any perceived risk for small infill projects.
The Bottom Line: Land and money may be ready, but projects can only move from paper to construction with predictable timelines.
4. Invest in Infrastructure and Site Readiness
Undevelopable land doesn’t deliver housing. Roads, water, and sewers have to be ready. Investing capital to make sites shovel-ready reduces developers’ financial and timing risks. Prepped sites shorten timelines, improve returns, and turn opportunity maps into units.
Camoin Associates’ Perspective
- A feasibility review we completed for an Upstate New York community linked housing programs to infrastructure status, showing which upgrades would unlock units fastest.
- We recommended that a county use a scored land inventory to help create a pipeline that developers and lenders could rely on.
The Bottom Line: Infrastructure converts land into deliverable projects and makes money and time work harder.
5. Maintain and Modernize the Housing You Already Have
Existing homes represent an immediate housing supply. Rehabilitation, weatherization, and code enforcement stabilize neighborhoods while new construction ramps up. In these efforts, land is already in use, cost is modest compared to new builds, and timelines are short.
Camoin Associates’ Perspective
- We helped a client prioritize rehabilitation in neighborhoods with aging housing stock as a workforce retention strategy.
- We provided strategies around elevating housing stabilization as a transformative initiative for another client.
- We encouraged one of our clients to focus on block-by-block housing rehabilitation and a vacant property registry to turn liabilities into assets.
The Bottom Line: The fastest, cheapest housing units are often ones you already have, which helps leverage land, money, and time more efficiently.
6. Building the Delivery System: Small Developers, Trades, and Local Capacity
Even with land, money, and timelines in place, housing only gets built if someone can deliver it. Most communities rely on small and mid-sized builders.
Providing financing support, pre-development help, and workforce training ensures these local teams can turn plans into units on schedule.
Camoin Associates’ Perspective
- We encouraged a county we work to expand its contractor networks and vocational programs, like modular housing construction.
- For another county, we developed strategies for modular housing production and trades training to meet demand where profit margins are thin.
The Bottom Line: Delivering new housing units depends on capable people who use land, money, and time efficiently.
7. Manage Seasonal and Short-Term Pressures
In tourism-driven economies, second homes and short-term rentals absorb land and capital. Time spent negotiating approvals for these uses slows the delivery of year-round housing.
Communities that set clear rules around seasonal and short-term rental housing protect the long-term housing supply, making land available, money work, and timelines predictable.
Camoin Associates’ Perspective
- We recommended a New England municipality we work start documenting short-term rental impacts and create tools to protect year-round housing.
- We encouraged another client to monitor gaps in affordability caused by short-term rental growth, which could then inform practical policy responses.
The Bottom Line: Rules are needed to ensure that land, money, and time are used to support residents, not just seasonal demand.
8. Measure What Matters and Course Correct
None of the levers work without feedback. Dashboards, annual reviews, and metrics keep land use efficient, money effective, and time well spent. When leaders track outcomes, they can adjust each lever in real time.
Camoin Associates’ Perspective
- We recommended a county we worked with perform annual reviews of housing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
- We encouraged another county to tie development production targets to geography and timelines, which would make gaps between approvals and housing needs more visible.
The Bottom Line: Measurement ensures land, money, and time are all focused on getting results.
The Municipal Housing Action Plan
Land, money, and time are the three levers behind every residential development. Plan to organize action around those levers so communities can unlock their housing supply efficiently and predictably:
- Land: Open up sites for realistic housing formats near existing infrastructure and publish an opportunity map.
- Money: Close financing gaps with bonuses, calibrated fees, public land pricing, and TIF for infrastructure.
- Time: Make approvals predictable with checklists, firm timelines, pre-approved plan sets, and a one-stop development review portal.
- Land and Time: Protect and modernize existing homes while new supply comes online.
- Land, Money, and Time: Build capacity through small developers, modular partners, and trades training.
- Money and Time: Tie housing production to jobs and measure results annually to adjust strategies.
At Camoin Associates, we pride ourselves on our unique ability to uncover emerging market opportunities unseen by others. We specialize in challenging investment environments and have proven success implementing complex real estate (re)development projects. From conducting a commercial real estate market analysis or housing needs assessment to developing project concepts, attracting developers, and finding funding, we help communities do it all.
Learn more about our Real Estate Development and Housing services
About the Author
John Walker is a Senior Economic Data and Research Analyst at Camoin Associates. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Economics from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Statistics from the University of Minnesota. He has more than 20 years of experience as an economist and analyst and has worked on numerous real estate development, tax increment financing (TIF), and housing needs assessment projects for public and private clients of all sizes across the country.
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