Title: The Impact of Zoning on Property Values
Headings: The Impact of Zoning on Property Values
The Impact of Zoning on Property Values
Shannon Slater Follow
MNAA, Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser at DW Slater Company
What is Zoning?
What is the Highest and Best Use Analysis?
How would zoning impact the value of a property?
Shannon Slater
MNAA, Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser at DW Slater Company

Content: Please research the city in which your property is located for further clarification on zoning variances. The zoning of a property becomes extremely important when appraising commercial real estate as it will impact what type of commercial property can be constructed or what type of use a building can have. Here is an example of zoning how impacted the value of a commercial property. A building that at one time had been used for light industrial/light manufacturing but the manufacturing business was not longer using the building. The building became vacant for an extended amount of time. The building is located near a downtown district. The city zoning created a Historic District which included the vacant building which was formally used for manufacturing. The new Historic District us does not allow for light manufacturing thus this building which was designed for manufacturing can no longer be sold to anyone that would need to use it for light industrial use. Since the building had been vacant for a certain amount of time it could not have a legal non-conforming use as light manufacturing. Because of the zoning, the value of the property is diminished as the number of buyers that would have a use for the building has now been greatly reduced which, based on supply and demand , would lessen the value of the building.