Cities Increasingly Rely On Developers To Build New Parks

Parks don’t generate a profit. In fact, they remove land from uses that could. They’re not exclusive amenities to those who live or work in a building. And they require a significant amount of upkeep, making them costly.

Even after the pandemic created widespread appreciation for open space, funding for park operations from local governments is below prepandemic levels. With the population growing and migrating across the country, developers have been behind the creation of a majority of the new parks in the U.S. in recent years.

Developers were involved in the site acquisition process of 67% of park or greenway openings between 2018 and 2023, whether through land dedication or by paying municipalities fees, according to a Trust for Public Land analysis of 76 sites created in 10 cities.

“As we plan and revitalize our cities, reimagine our spaces, this intersection between public and private is as important as ever,” TPL Associate Vice President Bianca Clarke said.

Just 13% were acquired through interagency transfers and 5% via city purchase of land. The other 15% of cases involved alternative methods, such as donations from foundations or individuals.

After securing the land, private entities were responsible for building out the park 62% of the time, while public agencies were involved in just 37% of cases.

Despite those contributions, the report found that residents are losing access to green space. Sixty-four percent of cities had less park acreage per resident in 2023 than in 2016.

Texas has felt a particularly pronounced impact, as 35 of 50 cities in the state had less park acreage per resident in 2020 than in 2008.

The majority of studies find that distance to a park tends to increase property values, though the exact amount varies depending on the size and upkeep of the space. In urban environments, the premium ranges between 8% and 10% for properties adjacent to a park.

Pledging to create new park space has also become a way for developers to win over neighborhoods that might otherwise push back against new projects.

“There's this level of uncomfort that some people have with the idea of turning over control of the public realm to the private market,” Karp Strategies principal and urban designer Annie White said, adding that sometimes there is no other choice.

Parks are obvious amenities, but the true benefits for developers are frequently hidden from the public eye. 

New York City has long had a program in place to encourage the construction of public spaces, trading bonus floor area and zoning waivers for creation and maintenance. Since 1961, 590 such spaces, both indoor and outdoor, across more than 380 buildings have been built, according to city data.

They vary in size. Some feature acres of greenery, while others are relatively small concrete plazas. Overall, they contribute more than 3.8M SF of public space to the five boroughs, equivalent to nine Bryant Parks.

“The needs of Midtown, where you're providing a space for people just to get outside and take a breath and have lunch, is definitely going to be different than when you're in a residential neighborhood,” said White, who spent five years at the NYC Department of City Planning.

But parks are more likely to see budget cuts than increased investment. As of fiscal year 2022, public funding for city parks in the 100 most populous cities remained below pre-2007 Great Recession levels, according to the Trust for Public Land.

“Often the issue of building new parks and open space is not the cost of building it itself, but it's the ongoing maintenance,” White said. “The city often just doesn't have the budget for this, unfortunately.”

City parks and recreation agencies would need to spend more than $60B to address current maintenance issues at parks, according to a report by the National Recreation and Park Association. 

Promising to create new park space can win developers favor in neighborhoods where new projects aren’t always welcomed.

“Doesn't matter what your politics are, doesn't matter how old you are — there is pretty universal support for parks,” Clarke said.

Over the past decade, a series of waterfront parks has emerged on New York City’s East River shoreline as development has spurred in Long Island City, Greenpoint and Williamsburg. Box Street Park, tied to the 520-unit building dubbed Tower 77, is set to join them.

The park, which is supposed to be crafted out of a barge-turned-parking lot, hasn't yet been completed due to various delays related to city approvals. The fact that the park is married to the tower “holds the developers’ feet to the fire,” said CetraRuddy associate principal Charles Thomson, who has been involved in designing the residential portion. 

“Since it's the last thing that goes in, [landscaping is] something that can be on the chopping block in trying to cut costs,” Thomson said. “They certainly do drive costs, but the developer can't just not build them.”

In Massachusetts, century-old legislation protects public access to the shore, even if there is waterfront property nearby. As a result, developers are required to obtain additional permits and provide walkways, parks or other amenities to the public.

“In practice, this does add complexity to waterfront projects,” The Architectural Team principal Jay Szymanski said. “But the benefits are real.”

TAT was involved in redeveloping Boston’s Lovejoy Wharf, transforming a 30K SF aging wharf into a waterfront plaza. Another one of the firm’s projects, Clippership Wharf, includes a 1,400-foot-long esplanade that helps the Boston Harbor mitigate storm surges. 

But in other areas of the country, especially those that have seen rapid growth in more recent years, policy protecting or encouraging public lands is less prevalent.

“Many cities have outdated formulas for park-dedication ordinances and impact fees — often set decades ago, and no longer reflecting true land and construction costs,” Mike Aziz, principal at Corgan, which recently acquired Cooper Robertson, said in an email.

Aziz has been involved in private and public campus planning projects in TenMile River Development in Wassaic, New York, Riverton in Sayreville, New Jersey, and Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia.

In Bellevue, Washington, his firm is designing a pedestrian corridor around and over the Interstate 405 highway. It will open 1.5 miles of space to the public. 

As areas of the country continue to see increased infill development, parks can be an afterthought. By the time communities realize that a neighborhood is missing open space, the lots it would have existed on may be filled. 

Alternatively, newly constructed and privately managed parks may be used by municipalities to justify budget cuts, resulting in disinvestment in publicly owned parks in other neighborhoods. That means that wealthy neighborhoods filled with new development have access to well-kept public spaces, while other areas of the city have decrepit parks covered in litter and graffiti.

To combat that, public and private groups need to actively think about parks and be flexible in the spending that goes into maintaining them, Clarke said.

“This kind of work is beneficial across the board,” Clarke said. “But it's also good for developers. It makes sure that developments are resilient. That when people move in, they are going to be healthy, connected, care for spaces, feel ownership over community and feel a sense of pride.”