Sule Aygoren Carranzais managing editor ofRealEstate Forum.

[IMGCAP(1)]NEW YORK CITY-The success of a project with anaffordable housing component as well as its impact on the localcommunity depend on the affordable program that is implemented.NYU's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy and the Centerfor Housing Policy in Washington, DC recently analyzed somedevelopments that utilize inclusionary zoning (IZ), one of the mostused but also most controversial policies in the creation ofaffordable housing.

Under IZ, developers often receive incentives or are mandated toset aside a portion of the housing units in a new market-ratedevelopment as affordable housing. In return, the developertypically receives benefits such as density bonuses or fast-trackpermitting. To analyze the details of such programs, theresearchers took a look at IZ policies in markets three differentregions--Boston, the Washington, DC area and San Francisco.