The impact of hiawatha light rail on commercial and industrial property values in Minneapolis

Abstract

The impact of proximity to transit on property values has become a key question in the debate on the relationships between public infrastructure investment and economic development. The focus has been on value captured by residential properties, with far fewer studies examining non-residential properties. Furthermore, few studies differentiate the effect of rail access and the effect of access to major interactions that later become station sites, and even fewer addressed the gradient of the accessibility effect. Based on the economic theory of firm location choice, this study develops hedonic pricing models to assess the value-added of the Hiawatha LRT on commercial and industrial properties, using data on properties sold before and after its completion. The results show that the LRT has induced a significant price premium for properties nearby and that the impact extends to almost 0.9 miles away from LRT stations.