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Southeast Feature Archive

DevelopmentFeaturesGeorgiaMultifamilySoutheastSoutheast Feature Archive

InterFace Design Panel: Multifamily’s Luxury Standards are Shifting Away from Amenities to Unit Interiors, Services

by Alex Tostado

ATLANTA — Multifamily developers’ definition of luxury is constantly changing, causing general contractors and architects to plan for the unforeseen and possibly change up designs when it comes to unit finishes, community amenities, parking structures or retail space within the communities they help build and design. “A big component of luxury now is creating an environment for community and location within the social hub of the market,” said B.J. Laterveer, principal at Alpharetta, Ga.-based Dwell Design Studios. “The amenity spaces got so big and cavernous, but now they are rightsizing.” Laterveer’s comments came during a panel titled “Developing Apartment Buildings for Today, but with an Eye on Tomorrow: An Architectural, Design & Construction Update,” at the 10th annual InterFace Multifamily Southeast conference hosted by France Media. Joining Laterveer on the panel were Paul Bertozzi, president and CEO at Live Oak Contracting; Ben Hudgins, principal at Brock Hudgins Architects; JoAnn McInnis, vice president at Carlyn & Co. Interiors & Design; Royce Elliott, chief operating officer at Juneau Construction; and moderator Nick Olaya, director of asset management at Alliance Residential. The conference took place Tuesday, Dec. 3 at The Whitley in Atlanta’s Buckhead district and attracted 384 attendees. Laterveer said developers are planning …

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Conference CoverageFeaturesGeorgiaMultifamilySoutheastSoutheast Feature Archive

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

by Kristin Harlow

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 …

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InterFace Seniors Housing Investors
Conference CoverageFeaturesGeorgiaSeniors HousingSoutheastSoutheast Feature Archive

Memory Care is Down But Not Out, Say Investors

by John Nelson

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. …

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FeaturesGeorgiaMultifamilySeniors HousingSoutheastSoutheast Feature Archive

Independent Living Struggles to Keep Up With Active Adult, Say Conference Panelists

by Alex Patton

ATLANTA — Seniors housing operators and developers are facing pressure to adapt as a new category of lower-acuity housing rises in popularity. The new player in the seniors housing game — active adult — is undercutting independent living developers by appealing to a slightly younger population of empty nesters and retirees. Active adult housing refers to residential communities designed for residents age 55 and older, but often do not have a strict age restriction. These are multifamily or single-family homes that often include amenities typically enjoyed by older residents, such as golf courses and clubhouses, but do not market themselves as full-fledged seniors housing. Independent living communities are structured similarly but often carry a strict age restriction of approximately 65 years old, and will sometimes offer basic assistance such as dining or laundry services. Independent living developers often struggle to attract residents when their target demographic of able-bodied senior citizens moves into nearby active adult communities 10 years early. Many of them will not move again until they are ready for assisted living or skilled nursing. “Independent living residents haven’t changed; the places where they are residing and the services they want that have changed, but we have stayed the …

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Conference CoverageDevelopmentFeaturesGeorgiaMixed-UseSoutheastSoutheast Feature Archive

Community Involvement is Necessary for Successful Mixed-Use Projects, Says InterFace Panel

by John Nelson

It’s not just a good idea for real estate developers to engage the surrounding community as part of their due diligence: It’s essential. While on stage at the close of the InterFace Southeast Mixed-Use conference, some of the Southeast’s most prolific mixed-use developers and owners say community involvement can be the difference between success and failure. “Nowadays, if you want a successful mixed-use project, you have to get in deep with the community and all the stakeholders — whether it’s adjacent landowners, homeowners associations, NPUs [neighborhood planning units] or local architecture committees,” said Jeff Garrison, development partner at S.J. Collins Enterprises, an Atlanta-based commercial real estate developer. “We conducted 50 meetings for The Interlock project before we even submitted for zoning. It’s overboard, but that’s what makes it successful.” The Interlock is an upcoming $450 million mixed-use development in Atlanta’s popular West Midtown district. S.J. Collins recently inked WeWork to lease three stories of its office tower, which will also have Georgia Tech as an anchor. Garrison says that the project’s 145-room Marriott Tribute Portfolio hotel was a direct result of feedback that his team heard from the community. “We didn’t have a hotel in our original design,” said Garrison. …

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FeaturesHeartland Feature ArchiveMultifamilyNortheast Feature ArchiveSoutheast Feature ArchiveStudent HousingTexas & Oklahoma Feature ArchiveWestern Feature Archive

Generation Z Renters Reshaping Student Housing Market

by Katie Sloan

With some of the oldest members of Generation Z coming onto the rental scene seeking out their first college and post-college apartments, developers and property owners must start paying closer attention to this new audience. While Gen Z and millennials have quite a bit in common, they also differ in some fundamental aspects and demand different standards of living in residential spaces. Just when owners and property managers are finding their footing with millennials, Gen Z will reshape the rules. Who is Gen Z? Gen Z is the population born in and after 1995. With the oldest members having just graduated college in the last few years, this is the beginning of their descent on the rental market. Since they came of age during the Great Recession and watched their parents struggle to make ends meet, Gen Z has a more conservative approach to spending compared to millennials. They are also less likely to uproot and relocate for a new job, as telecommuting and the freelance career path allows them to create their dream job right where they are. Gen Z is a generation that has grown up with standard two-day delivery, on-demand TV shows, movies downloaded within a minute …

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FeaturesHeartland Feature ArchiveMultifamilyNortheast Feature ArchiveSoutheast Feature ArchiveStudent HousingTexas & Oklahoma Feature ArchiveWestern Feature Archive

Priced Out: Adding Affordable Units to Student Housing

by Katie Sloan

Student loan figures indicate a growing affordability problem in higher education. The Federal Reserve reports that student loan debt in the United States is almost $1.6 trillion today, with 42 percent of people who attended college — which represents 30 percent of all adults — incurring at least some debt from their education.  With a focus on technology-based degree programs, the cost to attend college is rising. But it’s not just tuition that’s going up. According to College Board, the cost of housing exceeds the cost of tuition at four-year, public universities. For the 2017-2018 academic year, students paid an average of $9,970 for in-state tuition while room and board ran $10,800. “There’s a real need to get to the middle of the market and to build quality housing that students can afford,” says Joe Coyle, president of Michaels Student Living. Michaels Student Living is a specialized area of expertise within The Michaels Organization, a leading affordable housing developer in the United States. “Housing is a big part of what contributes to the high cost of attending college. We have to work together to find ways to mitigate this. It’s going to become more and more important.” While the student …

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FeaturesNorth CarolinaOfficeSoutheastSoutheast Feature ArchiveUncategorized

LED Lighting: An Amenity With Immediate Payback for Office Owners

by John Nelson

DURHAM, N.C — The term “environment” is typically thought of as being strictly outdoors, but for office owners, investors and tenants, the interior of office buildings is an environment unto itself. And like planet Earth, an office environment needs investment in order to protect its inhabitants. “We believe the workplace, where employees spend eight hours a day or longer, must provide a healthy and stimulating interior environment,” says Dan Goldstein, managing partner with Accesso Partners LLC of Hallandale Beach, Florida. Goldstein, whose 15-year-old company owns Class A office towers spanning 15 million square feet in major U.S. cities, contends “it makes good business sense to invest capital in an interior environment where employees are productive, efficient and above all, healthy, which cuts down on illnesses and absenteeism and contributes to job satisfaction.” Accesso Partners is doing more than just preaching. In Durham, the institutional commercial real estate fund recently installed a new lighting solution at its 10-building, 690,520-square-foot space within the Meridian Corporate Center, which is adjacent to the famed Research Triangle Park. The result has been brighter offices that are easier on the eyes and more conductive for close-up, meticulously detailed work. There is also a flipside to that …

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FeaturesFloridaNet LeaseRetailSoutheastSoutheast Feature Archive

Collaboration is Key for 1031 Buyers to Avoid Missteps, Tax Obligations for Single-Tenant Net-Leased Retail Assets

by John Nelson

Single-tenant, net-leased properties (STNL) are among the most sought-after investments in the market, and over 40 percent of all STNL properties acquired are purchased by investors in a 1031 exchange. Finding the right properties can be challenging and competitive, and factoring in the time restrictions of a 1031 exchange further complicates the issue, particularly when deals can be derailed for a myriad of reasons. Many of these pitfalls can be avoided or limited by leveraging a team of well-versed experts, from property brokers to tax professionals, reducing the odds of an investor getting shouldered with a hefty tax obligation. An infrequent but potentially catastrophic event that can derail a 1031 exchange is a tenant exercising a right of first refusal (ROFR). Approximately one-in-five leases include such a provision, and most tenants infrequently take advantage of the opportunity. Experienced real estate professionals often know which occupants tend to favor acquiring their buildings when given the opportunity. Corporate-owned McDonald’s restaurants are among the most frequent tenants exercising a ROFR when presented with the chance. Although targeting these deals does not automatically derail a 1031 exchange, having a viable backup property is important in these situations. Other hurdles can derail a flawlessly executed …

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FeaturesMultifamilySoutheast Feature Archive

Dodge Data Economist: Multifamily Development Wave Has Lenders Wary

by Kristin Harlow

ATLANTA — Lenders are understandably exercising caution when it comes to financing multifamily housing development projects, says Robert Murray, chief economist for Dodge Data & Analytics, which tracks construction starts across commercial real estate. “Notwithstanding the pickup in activity we had in 2018 and notwithstanding the fact that millennials are still looking at apartments as opposed to single-family homes, we view multifamily housing as one of the more vulnerable parts of the construction industry right now.” The insights from Murray came during his mid-year outlook presentation before approximately 60 people who gathered at Le Meridien Perimeter in Atlanta on Friday, June 14. The attendees were largely building product manufacturers, with additional representation from financial services and construction staffing services. In 2018, construction starts in the multifamily sector totaled 534,000 nationwide, according to Dodge. The projection for 2019 is 495,000 units, which would equate to a 7 percent decrease. As for 2020, the decline could be as much as 15 percent, according to Murray. The national apartment vacancy rate for the first quarter of 2019 stood at 4.8 percent, up 10 basis points from 4.7 percent a year earlier, according to Reis, which tracks apartment completions and occupancy. Net absorption totaled …

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