News
Bisnow Student Housing Summit – Part II
May 10, 2011
 |
| After the audience cleared out from our Bisnow Student Housing Summit last week, we snapped housing technology pioneer Abodez? Ling Yi Liu. He's developing a modular multifamily construction product that allows him to customize rental apartments to each tenant?s needs. With buildings composed of self-contained and wired panels, interior spaces can be reconfigured in a cost effective way. Say a couple wants a baby?s room attached to the master rather than a study that leads to the living room. Done and done. His company's new nine-unit building at 277 Broadway in Cambridge, completed last August, is fully leased. Abodez? 54-unit apartment building at 87 New St. in Fresh Pond is about 60% leased. Rents in both buildings range from $1,900 for a one-bedroom to $3,300 for a three-bedroom, two-bath. He has new projects in the works. Stay tuned. |
 |
| Equity Residential?s Greg White, VP for development in Boston and DC, is moving the ball down the court on permits for EQR?s proposed new 500-unit apartment building in the West End Apartments complex near MGH. Already, the project has nine buildings with 1,464 units. EQR bought four of the buildings and built five, with the last completed in ?08. The new apartments on Lomasney Way, designed by Elkus Manfredi, will have an underground garage for 850 vehicles. If approved, two and a half years of construction could start in 2012. Given Boston's demanding permitting process, Greg says EQR likes this market because high barriers to entry keep demand strong and rents rising. |
