Conference Coverage

Powered By Healthy Job Market, Multifamily Investment Remains a Safe Bet

by Alex Patton December 10, 2019

ATLANTA — Increased job growth in major markets throughout the Southeast and lower borrowing costs have quelled fears of a 2020 recession, and multifamily investors are feeling confident going into the new year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that the U.S. economy generated 266,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell 10 basis points to 3.5 percent. Healthy job growth in major population centers drives heightened demand for housing, particularly in the multifamily sector. Speakers at France Media’s InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference shared their perspectives on the multifamily investment market of 2019 and their predictions for 2020. The conference, which took place Tuesday, Dec. 3 at The Whitley hotel in the Buckhead district of Atlanta, attracted 384 industry professionals. “Multifamily is a pretty much tried-and-true section of the real estate investment market,” said Steven Shores, president and CEO of Pollack Shores. “We have very low volatility compared to other sectors, and if you’re trying to make an allocation between some sort of alternative asset versus cash or bond portfolio, we look pretty attractive from a risk-investment perspective.” Shores noted that existing assets are trading at cap rates anywhere between 4 to 5 percent, depending on the location, …

December 10, 2019

Conference Coverage Features Georgia Multifamily Southeast Southeast Feature Archive

Retail, Office Trends Influence Apartment Development Strategies, Says InterFace Panel

by Kristin Harlow December 5, 2019

ATLANTA — Much of today’s new apartment projects feature a ground-floor retail component. But developers at France Media’s 10th annual InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference actually expressed concern about this type of development approach. “The overall retail market is just not what it once was,” said Richard Aaronson, CEO of Atlantic Residential. “A lot of municipalities are recognizing that ground-floor retail in a residential building is not ideal.” In other words, if there is difficulty leasing the retail space, a bunch of empty storefronts doesn’t bode well for the overall project. Aaronson said his company is implementing ground-floor retail on a limited basis and is instead incorporating first-floor apartments and community spaces. Aaronson spoke on a panel titled, “What Makes a Development Project Successful in Today’s Market?” Joining Aaronson on the panel was Harvey Wadsworth, managing director with Mill Creek Residential; Peter Joerss, director of acquisitions for PointOne Holdings; Jason Doornbos, executive managing director for Landmark Properties; and John Leonard, first vice president with Marcus & Millichap who served as moderator. The conference took place Tuesday, Dec. 3 at The Whitley in Atlanta’s Buckhead district and welcomed 384 attendees. Complicating matters, however, is that some cities require new apartment developments to …

December 5, 2019

Conference Coverage Features Multifamily Student Housing

The Importance of Reputation Management in Student Housing

by Katie Sloan October 11, 2019

DALLAS — It’s no secret that today’s students spend a lot of time on their phones, perusing social media and scanning the internet. With such a high level of importance placed on digital content, what people are saying about your community through online reviews is becoming more powerful than ever. As an owner or operator, it’s imperative to handle negative reviews quickly and efficiently, and to bolster the amount of positive reviews left about your community. A panel of reputation management strategists weighed in on best online reputation practices during the session, “Review and Reputation Management: Who Should be Managing Your Reputation? What are Best Practices? And Creating an Effective & Efficient Strategy for your Teams,” at the second annual LeaseCon: A Social Media, Digital & Traditional Marketing Boot Camp, held at The Westin Galleria in Dallas in September. “There is a direct correlation between online reputation and how well your assets are performing,” says John Hinckley, CEO of Modern Message. “Building the right strategy around reputation management is key. It’s been interesting to watch over the last eight years and see the industry change from turning a blind eye to reputation to incorporating it as an important component of …

October 11, 2019

Conference Coverage Features Multifamily Student Housing Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive

How to Maximize Student Housing Lease Conversions Through Social Media, Digital Marketing

by Kristin Harlow October 3, 2019

DALLAS — When it comes to attracting the attention of students — and, more specifically, Generation Z — maintaining a positive and unique social media and digital marketing presence is critical. Most owners and operators of student housing today are pushing marketing dollars toward creating a digital brand in hopes of attracting a greater number of lease conversions. As an owner or operator, how do you allocate the right amount of funding to this segment of the business? And how do you know if it’s actually working? A panel of owners, operators and digital marketing strategists weighed in on this topic during the session, “How to Convince Owners/Operators to Allocate Budget to Social Media and Digital Marketing & How to Report and Validate Results and Maximize Conversions,” at the second annual LeaseCon: A Social Media, Digital & Traditional Marketing Boot Camp, held at The Westin Galleria in Dallas in September. Achieving optimal digital marketing results begins with transparent data on what works, and what doesn’t. “It’s really important to choose a digital marketing partner that is going to be as transparent as possible,” says Brian Garrigan, head of sales for the central U.S. at Simpli.fi. “A lot of organizations will …

October 3, 2019

Conference Coverage Features Industrial Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive

InterFace Panel: Deal Size, Institutional Capital, Infrastructure Have Fueled DFW Industrial Growth

by Taylor Williams September 19, 2019

DALLAS — Over the last decade, the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) industrial market has transitioned from the middle of the pack of major U.S. industrial markets to Tier-1 status in terms of leasing and development, and the drivers extend beyond job and population growth. So went the opening conversation of the development panel of the InterFace DFW Industrial conference, held Sept. 4 at the Westin Galleria hotel and attended by more than 200 industry professionals in its first year of existence. Moderated by Keith Holley, partner at Method Architecture, the panel wasted no time in providing quantitative evidence of DFW’s emergence as a leading industrial market. Panelist Tony Creme, senior vice president at Hillwood, backed this assertion by pointing out that since the recession, the market has averaged about 25 million square feet of new deliveries per year. That rate of development puts DFW on pace to exceed 1 billion square feet by 2021, joining Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles as the only U.S. markets with that much inventory. “We’ve got about 36 million square feet of product under construction, which is about 40 percent preleased,” said Creme, citing numbers from CoStar Group. “That’s helping to temper development a little bit. …

September 19, 2019

InterFace Mixed-Use Southeast Capital Markets

Conference Coverage Georgia Mixed-Use Southeast

Capital Markets Professionals Put Mixed-Use Dynamics Under the Microscope During InterFace Panel

by John Nelson September 18, 2019

ATLANTA — One of the central themes of the first annual InterFace Mixed-Use Southeast conference was the interplay between the various uses present within mixed-use projects around the region. Whether it’s Avalon in Alpharetta, Georgia, or the American Tobacco Campus redevelopment in downtown Durham, North Carolina, the success of these projects hinges on whether the different uses can support one another. Can the apartment residents help patronize the retail and restaurants? Can the office component drive overnight stays at the project’s hotel? But before these dynamics can play out, a vital piece to having these projects come to fruition is financing. During the conference’s capital markets discussion, panelists tackled topics including equity requirements for mixed-use projects, a pending recession, the historically low interest rate environment and the strong competition among capital providers. For mixed-use specifically, the capital markets panelists discussed the challenges and opportunities in trying to underwrite the various uses all under one transaction. Lenders have to be careful not to overlook or make assumptions about a property type when financing mixed-use deals, warned Bryan Joyner, managing director of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “They have to look at the separate uses both separately and together and then underwrite …

September 18, 2019

Conference Coverage Features Multifamily Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive

InterFace Panel: Fickle Nature of Renter Tastes Creates Challenges for Multifamily Architects, Contractors

by Taylor Williams September 16, 2019

DALLAS — Multifamily projects are becoming more costly and time-consuming to complete, and the need to cultivate a unique amenity package that differentiates a property from the competition is contributing to inflated budgets and lengthier timelines. As noted by a panel of multifamily architects and construction managers at the InterFace Multifamily Texas on Sept. 5, the definition of what constitutes an ideal amenity package is in a constant state of flux. The event, held at the Westin Galleria hotel in Dallas, drew more than 225 attendees. The complications of designing and building multifamily communities are challenging and costly enough. That the amenities are subject to ever-changing consumer tastes adds another layer of complexity to maintaining project costs and schedules. Yet curating the right mix is a critical part of product differentiation in saturated markets. Many amenities found in new properties reflect broader changes in consumer behavior, which is fickle by definition. Features such as Amazon package lockers, rideshare lounges, electric car charging stations and coworking office space exemplify how changes in the ways people shop, travel and work are trickling down to the design and construction of apartment communities. “In our world, projects are increasingly complex,” said moderator Spencer Stuart, …

September 16, 2019

Conference Coverage Features Georgia Seniors Housing Southeast Southeast Feature Archive

Memory Care is Down But Not Out, Say Investors

by John Nelson September 12, 2019

ATLANTA — Seniors housing investors are pumping the brakes on acquiring memory care facilities as the property type’s fundamentals and high turnover have proven to be worrisome. That’s according to an investment panel during the annual InterFace Seniors Housing Southeast conference. Held on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at the InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta, the one-day conference attracted more than 430 seniors housing professionals from all over the Southeast. Memory care is a subsector of seniors housing real estate for seniors suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. According to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC), memory care is often located within assisted living facilities but also exists in standalone settings. Memory care residents are typically separated from assisted living residents in a secured area with specialized programming. The panelists said that memory care was a hot product type in the recent past but that the sector’s current distress is a direct result of overzealous developers. “Memory care was low hanging fruit for developers but now it has become overbuilt and has fallen out of favor,” said the panel’s moderator Adam Heavenrich, managing director of Heavenrich & Co., a seniors housing investment brokerage firm based in Chicago. …

September 12, 2019

Conference Coverage Features Multifamily Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive

InterFace Panel: DFW Multifamily Developers Must Stand Out from the Crowd

by Taylor Williams September 11, 2019

DALLAS — When developing multifamily product in a market that has added more than 20,000 new units in each of the past three years, distinguishing a community from its peers isn’t just important — it’s essential. According to data from CoStar Group, the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex added approximately 70,000 multifamily units between 2016 and 2018. The market has also absorbed more than 25,000 units over the last 12 months, a period in which only about 23,000 apartments were delivered. Vacancy currently sits at 7.5 percent. A panel of developers at the eighth annual InterFace Multifamily Texas conference discussed best practices for differentiating a property in a market that is not only teeming with new supply, but also home to segments of sophisticated renters. Held on Sept. 5 at the Westin Galleria hotel in Dallas, the event drew more than 225 attendees. Drew Kile, senior vice president at Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, moderated the panel. Cultivating A Story Whether by the inclusion of an unusual amenity, the delivery of distinct unit mix that is perfectly targeted to the surrounding demographic or the ascription of a unique story behind the project, multifamily developers in DFW simply …

September 11, 2019

Conference Coverage Features Industrial Texas Texas & Oklahoma Feature Archive

Tariffs, Election Impact Deal Velocity in DFW Industrial Market, Says InterFace Panel

by Taylor Williams September 10, 2019

DALLAS — The 2020 presidential election as well as tariffs, the primary economic weapon of the incumbent candidate, are weighing heavily on the decisions of industrial users and investors in Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), according to a panel of experienced leasing and capital markets professionals at the InterFace DFW Industrial conference. Moderated by Coni Hennersdorf, principal of CODA Consulting Group, the event was held Sept. 4 at the Westin Galleria Hotel and attended by more than 200 people in its first year of existence. The panelists agreed that President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which at this point primarily target goods imported from China, have prompted some industrial users to stockpile inventories in advance of the tariffs going into effect. According to the Wall Street Journal, since July 2018, the administration has imposed tariffs on more than $250 billion worth of Chinese goods, not including the additional $150 billion in tariffs set to take effect in mid-December. Other tenants have opted to wait out the election and see if the tariffs will be repealed, effectively delaying key decisions on capital expenditures like labor and materials. The former scenario creates more demand for industrial space, while the latter puts potential expansion deals on hold. …

September 10, 2019

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