Conference Coverage

ATLANTA — Jason Nettles, managing director at Northmarq’s Atlanta office, is well-versed on the recent history of U.S. apartment deliveries, knowledge that came in handy for launching discussion among developers at the 16th annual InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference. Nettles moderated a panel of five regional developers, all of whom also share keen awareness of just how much new multifamily product U.S. markets — particularly those in the highly desirable Sun Belt regions — have added in recent years. In these areas, supply growth is both a dominant narrative on the surface of the multifamily development scene and an invisible hand that guides business decisions behind that scene. Massive blips in supply, whether positive or negative, impact key facets of underwriting, including rent growth assumptions and concessions, as well as financing terms on both the debt and equity sides of the capital markets. Those figures and assumptions must then be evaluated against hard costs of development, which as a rule do not decline over time, but rather grow at varying paces. Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial real estate executives. To sign up for email announcements about specific events, visit www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/subscribe. All …

By Taylor Williams DALLAS — Technological innovation has long been a cornerstone of managing and leasing multifamily properties, and that feature of the business has only been augmented in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). But for all the operational conveniences and efficiencies that AI potentially brings to the table, multifamily management has not yet reached the point of phasing out the human element. Almost immediately after the members of the leasing and management panel at the annual InterFace Multifamily Texas conference had introduced themselves, this fundamental premise of multifamily management was put forth to a crowd of several hundred real estate professionals — men and women who have built careers based on human relationships. The message to those at the conference, which took place in late September at the Westin Galleria Hotel in Dallas, seemed to be one of reassurance, that even as AI seemingly infiltrates every aspect of human life and threatens to void millions of jobs, the human principles that have long governed real estate transactions remain intact. At least for now. Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial real estate executives. To sign up for email announcements …