Infill Location is a real estate development site that exists within a mostly built out market. Usually located within an urban area, infill locations look to fill the few vacant lots that exist between other developments in the area. Infill locations are characterized by having a high level of demand, due to increased property values in desirable locations, with high barriers to entry.
In real estate, an infill location may serve to fundamentally benefit a property’s performance. Limiting the number of new developments in an area, infill locations can help keep new, competitive properties out of a market. For example, a Whole Foods located in downtown Denver may see success due to the lack of available space that could be used to house another major grocery store chain.
Infill development is different from redevelopment. Redevelopment converts an existing site into one that has a better economic benefit for the community.
Some municipalities offer incentives for infill development. These incentives can come in the form of various tax benefits, simplified permitting, and other incentives. Municipalities often see advantages to utilizing infill development. Infill development encourages higher density, more compact communities, which contribute to better walkability and less car traffic. At the same time, it discourages sprawl.
Infill locations can be both commercial and residential. Examples of residential infill are removing an older, larger home on a property and replacing it with two homes with a smaller footprint that are two stories each. This configuration uses the same land, but instead of one house, there are two.
Some Infill development deals with toxic locations, such as an old gas station or mill. After removing the old structure and remediating the land, newer structures with completely different uses can be built in the same location. This type of infill development is called brownfield.