178 Units in Menifee

Yesterday, we spoke with Frost Communities' Sean Frost, center, at the job site of his newest luxury apartment community: Avila. He tells us the 178-unit project on Encanto Drive in Menifee will be completed in two phases, with the first slated to open in August and Phase 2 in October. What makes the southwest Riverside County town ripe for a first-class luxury resort-style community? Menifee is an up-and-coming city, he says. "The economy and population there are such that it's ready for a full range of product."

Avila offers one- two- and three-bedroom units and amenities like a pool, spa, wading pool, indoor/outdoor fireplace, fitness center, media room, and cyber cafe, and will be pet-friendly. (Pet-friendly as long as you don't let your pet duck in the wading pool.) The development was approved by the County of Riverside prior to Menifee's incorporation in 2008. It's taken a long time for the company to feel confident enough in the economy to move forward, but Sean notes that apartment vacancy rates are now down to about 5% in the area. Property management will be handled by FPI Management.

Sean's construction management team. His dad, Jess Frost, has developed thousands of apartments throughout SoCal since 1957. Sean's also a filmmaker who's getting his master's degree at Chapman University. (But he plans to remain in real estate and bridge both worlds--maybe he'll do a remake of The Apartment.) He notes that some of the skill sets needed to be a director and the owner of a construction and development company overlap: "Both jobs require managing an army of people."