(post by Dee) Recently one real estate buzzword has been especially hot. Mixed-use has been a hot development type. Is it new? Is it better? Here’s a quick lowdown on the definition, as well as some background.

In short, mixed-use property is one that combines more than one type of property type, like a hotel and condominiums, with retail at the bottom, or rental apartments with offices, etc. Rather than spreading and dividing residential and commercial components of the community, mixed-use stacks and blends them.

Combining living, shopping and work space into one project is not new. It was the preferred method of development in the United States until the late 1940s. Today’s mixed-use developments are not much different from old downtowns. In essence, it’s the way Americans used to live, with apartments above the bakery, with law and doctor’s offices in the same building.

Only after WWII did the US gain appetite for suburbia and, as a result, developers began specializing in specific property sectors, such as only residential or retail, or industrial. Till this day, zoning and building codes segregate residential and commercial property. This is very much the case in NYC - but the flashback to the ways it used to be can be seen in those buildings with grandfathered retail space at the bottom of a 6-family building, for example.

Mixed use has never gone out of style in other countries. If you visit Europe or China, mixed-use is the way of every city, small and large, and developers and builders don’t even think about specializing. Here, in the US, on the other hand, there were few mixed-use developers. Until now, that is.

They say that the driving force is the public’s desire for community and convenience. These developments create 24/7 environments catering to both employees and residents, tourists and locals.

But the mixed-use projects being developed today are more complex than those of the past. There is a large number of hotel / condo projects, for example. Even in the suburbs and small town, we now see luxurious, open-air lifestyle centers with either a significant residential or office component above the street-level retail space, in addition to entertainment venues. See Atlas Park in Glendale, NY or Mizner Park in Boca Raton, FL. It’s the charm and convenience (read: walking distance, fine dining and cultural attractions) of downtowns that draws empty nesters and young families back to the cities, and mixed-use developments are also very much responsible for resurgence of smaller towns, like Scranton, PA, for example. Pack a couple dozen of restaurants, entertainment venues, services (dry cleaner, attorney, dentist, spa, gym) into a small, tastefully designed “downtown”, combine that with cheaper cost of living and no crime, and you have yourself a magnet for well-to-do Americans who are tired of years spent loading their minivans, of lawn-mowers, of traffic, and well, you get the picture. Suburban sprawl was never good for our environment, and now, with the gas prices having quadrupled, it is very bad for our wallets. There you have it – mixed-use just may be the solution to high gas prices. Don’t spread it, stack it.