News
Multifamily Oversupply?
November 21, 2012
| Boston mutifamily players may be in for a surprise in the short term, according to CoStar's Michael Cohen, despite a general consensus at our two-day Bisnow Annual Multifamily Conference (which wrapped in DC yesterday) that fundamentals are sound. | |
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| Michael says there may not be enough demand to support an influx of Boston multifamily construction projects, especially Downtown. However, steady job growth in the tech sector and the huge number of college grads in the area should stabilize the market in the long term. Above, he's flanked by Harkins Builders'Steve Rubin and The Martin Architectural Group's Mike Rosen. | |
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| Delta Associates CEO Greg Leisch says uncertainty is causing people to rent rather than own and, as a result, apartments represent a better investment than any other CRE asset class and even stocks and bonds. And things could be looking even better: According to Greg, the 4.8% nationwide apartment vacancy rate could drop 20 bps next year, meaning a bump in rents that would keep multifamily a healthy investment for years. | |
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| Apartments are smaller, and amenity spaces are bigger. Bozzuto Construction prez Mike Schlegel (with RD Jones' Rebecca Jones) says from '08 to '09, the average unit size Bozzuto built was 964 SF. Units delivering in the next two years are down to 866. (We can't help but think carb-free diets had something to do with all this.) Amenity space per unit? That almost doubled, from 20 SF to 37 SF. | |
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| Renters want a fancy kitchen and bathroom more than they care about size, says Gables Residential CEO Sue Ansel (here with Alliance Residential's Brad Cribbins and Pinnacle prez Rick Graf). With stellar common spaces, renters can have friends over without bringing them into a small apartment. But, even if the oven is destined to become a sweater storage spot, she says, it's gotta look nice. | |
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| Humphreys & Partners Architects' Mark Humphreys says small used to mean 500 SF, and now his company's Home Rise brand has 350 SF units. He visited his daughter six months after she moved and found a 24-cubic-foot fridge holding just two containers and her dishes still in boxes. What makes more sense for someone who's clearly not cooking at home, he says, is an under-the-counter fridge, a two-burner stove, and less cabinetry. Above, Mark is with Ply Gem Windows' Yuri Lawrence and Humphreys' Brooke Iosue. | |
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| Ever seen speed networking before? For any newbies (or veterans who are still curious), here's video from Monday, when 100 of the 500 BMAC attendees worked the room with two-minute rapid-fire schmooze sessions. | |
