Arizona’s House Bill (HB) 2297 signed into law by the governor on April 10, 2024 has mandated all Arizona cities with population of 150,000 or more to allow multi-family or adaptive reuse on no more than 10 percent of existing commercial, office, or mixed use buildings. Staff is working to create code text amendment to comply with the state requirements.
HB 2297 is intended to help increase the supply of housing units by providing developers opportunities to convert or adapt eligible obsolete commercial, office, and mixed-use buildings to multi-family development. The following paragraphs provide the highlights of what is included in the state bill HB 2297.
City staff have created a draft Ordinance to comply with this State mandate. The Draft Ordinance can be viewed here.
Key Points in the HB 2297
- Municipalities shall allow multi-family development in no more than 10% of the existing commercial, office, and mixed-use buildings without requiring any applications that require public hearing.
- Municipalities may designate up to 10% of such buildings in the geographical areas they choose to be excluded from the requirements of this section.
- Municipalities may modify both these percentages every ten years.
- To qualify for adaptive reuse, the existing buildings should be functionally and economically obsolete.
- The new proposed uses should have adequate water and sewer, and comply with building and fire codes.
- Sites should be minimum 1 acre and maximum 20 acres.
- At least 10 % of the units should be set aside for households making less than 120% of the area median income (AMI).
- New parking requirements may not exceed those for multifamily or mixed use development.
- Municipalities may not withhold demolition permit for applications that meet the requirements of this section.
- Setback requirements may not exceed the existing standards for multi-family development.
- Maximum height and density shall be equal to the highest allowable for multi-family development within one mile or the next closest building.
- Maximum height shall be 5 stories, or 2 stories within 100 feet of single-family zone.
- If the existing building’s setbacks are less than required for the proposed use, the setback will remain as a legal non-conforming standard.
- If the height of the existing building exceeds the maximum allowable height for the proposed use, the existing height may remain as legal non-conforming.
- The existing building may be expanded to include the maximum allowable density.
Exemptions in the HB 2297
- Sites designated as a district of historical significance.
- Sites designated historic by a local government.
- Sites designated as historic on the national register of historic places.
- Land in the vicinity of a military airport or ancillary military facility (inside 60 DNL noise contours).
- Land in the vicinity of a FAA commercial airport or a general aviation or public airport. (inside 60 DNL noise contours)
- Land in a municipality that is located on tribal land.
Adaptive Reuse Ordinance:
City staff is working on a draft ordinance for adaptive reuse regulations that will comply with House Bill 2297. The Draft Ordinance can be reviewed here.
Past Public Input Opportunities:
October 2, 2024 Neighborhood Advisory Committee Meeting – 5:30 p.m. Don Cassano Room, Tempe Transportation Center, 200 East 5th Street, Tempe, AZ 85281
October 8, 2024 Public Meetings – Virtually via Zoom at 12:00 p.m. and in-person at the Don Cassano Room, Tempe Transportation Center, 200 East 5th Street, Tempe, AZ 85281. View the meeting recording here.
Upcoming Public Input Opportunities:
November 12, 2024 Development Review Commission Recommendatory Hearing – 6:00 p.m. Tempe City Council Chambers, 31 East 5th Street, Tempe, AZ 85281
November 21, 2024 City Council Introduction and 1st Hearing – 6:00 p.m. Tempe City Council Chambers, 31 East 5th Street, Tempe, AZ 85281
December 19, 2024 City Council Final Hearing – 6:00 p.m. Tempe City Council Chambers, 31 East 5th Street, Tempe, AZ 85281
