AUSTIN, TEXAS — Avanta Residential, an affiliate of Hunt Cos., will develop a community of 216 single-family rental homes within The Colony, a 2,300-acre master-planned community in Austin. Communal amenities will include a clubhouse and pool, walking trails with fitness stations, open play areas and playgrounds. Avanta plans to break ground in the near future and to deliver the homes for rent in 2022. Alliance Bank of Arizona is providing construction financing for the project.
BOCA RATON, FLA. — North American Development Group will construct 252 for-rent single-family homes at the former site of Mizner Trail Golf Course in Boca Raton. The West Palm Beach, Fla.-based developer acquired the 127 acres from residential and resort developer Concord Wilshire Capital for $33.2 million. Concord Wilshire will have a participation interest in the development, which will be located on the west and east sides of Camino Del Mar between Camino Real and SW 18th Street. The single-family homes and townhomes will be divided into seven gated communities supported by one common amenity center. Kevin O’Grady of Concord Summit Capital advised Concord Wilshire in the land sale. A timeline for construction was not disclosed.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Dart Interests has unveiled plans to redevelop Villas at Grand Cypress in Orlando into a massive vacation rental resort and hotel project named Evermore Orlando Resort. The 1,100-acre resort is adjacent to Walt Disney World. At full buildout in 2023, the 10,000-bedroom project will represent an equity investment in excess of $1 billion. Evermore’s first phase will include nearly 1,500 rooms spread across single-family rental homes, villas, flats and hotel guestrooms. Plans call for 69 houses ranging in size from five to 11 bedrooms. “Dart is introducing an entirely new hospitality category that will change the landscape of vacation rental homes,” says Christopher Kelsey, president of Dart. “We are creating the first-ever wholly owned, large-scale community of purpose-built vacation rental homes and operating them with hotel-quality standards.” According to Kelsey, Dart’s approach to this project solves the main problem for vacation renters — uncertainty in the quality of the home. The centralized ownership model ensures the same quality for each residence, as opposed to most other vacation homes that are owned by individuals. In addition to vacation homes, the complex will also include 76 four-bedroom flats, 41 two- and four-bedroom villas and a Conrad hotel, which is …
NAPERVILLE, ILL. — Haven Realty Capital continues to build its single-family rental portfolio with the $18.5 million acquisition of Ashwood Place in Naperville. Ashwood Place is one of the first dedicated rental communities (DRC) in the Chicagoland area. A DRC is similar to a single-family housing subdivision except that it caters solely to renters. These types of communities are growing in popularity, particularly among residents who cannot afford to purchase a home but desire a neighborhood feel, according to Haven. Each of the 60 homes at Ashwood Place feature a two-bedroom, two-bathroom floor plan spanning 1,350 square feet. The community was 95 percent leased at the time of sale. Justin Ross, Matt Ishikawa, Bill Howe and David Guenther of CBRE represented the undisclosed seller.
LOGANVILLE, GA. — American Homes 4 Rent has opened Stone Creek Community, a 127-home rental community in Loganville. The community comprises single-family homes that feature fenced-in backyards and three-to five-bedroom floor plans ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 square feet. Rents will start in the $1,600s. Each home offers granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, vinyl plank flooring, central heating and air conditioning and two-car garages. The community will also feature a clubhouse, pool, fitness center and a playground. Additionally, routine front and backyard maintenance is included. Stone Creek Community is situated at 5031 U.S. Highway 81, 38 miles east of downtown Atlanta.
SURPRISE, TOLLESON, LITCHFIELD PARK AND PHOENIX, ARIZ. — Oak Brook, Ill.-based Inland Real Estate Acquisitions, on behalf of an affiliate of The Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, has acquired five Christopher Todd Communities in the Phoenix metro area. The portfolio includes 943 single-family rental homes. Three communities — Christopher Todd Communities On Greenway in Surprise, Christopher Todd Communities At Country Park in Tolleson and Christopher Todd Communities On Camelback in Litchfield Park — were included in the closing on Friday, March 13. The purchase of Christopher Todd Communities At Marley Park in Surprise and Christopher Todd Communities At Stadium in Phoenix are pending and slated to close in the near future. The communities were the first Christopher Todd Communities to be constructed as the company began its development of “smart-gated” communities offering pet-friendly one- and two-bedroom, single-family homes with private backyards and resort-style luxury amenities. Trevor Koskovich, Jesse Hudson and Bill Hahn of NorthMarq represented the buyer and seller in the deal. James DuMars and Griffin Martin of NorthMarq’s Phoenix office arranged acquisition financing for the buyer.
SAN ANTONIO — A partnership between two California-based firms, AHV Communities and Bristol Group Inc., is underway on Pradera, a project in San Antonio that will deliver single-family homes exclusively for rent. The gated community will be located near the Alamo Ranch development on the city’s west side and feature 250 three- or four-bedroom residences with private front and backyards. The project will also deliver an amenity center with a clubhouse, community kitchen, pool, fitness center, a dog park and walking trails. Preleasing will begin during the third quarter and move-ins are expected to commence during the fourth quarter.
Throughout metro Detroit, employment and population gains are bolstering apartment demand. Following the creation of 40,200 jobs one year ago, employers in the metro area added 22,200 people to payrolls during the past four quarters. The hiring brought the unemployment rate to 4.5 percent in March, down 10 basis points year over year. The tighter rate may make it more difficult for some employers to find qualified workers to fill openings. During the past 12 months, the hospitality sector led hiring with 8,200 additional workers. New hotel openings contributed to the increase. Sustained job growth has helped to boost the metro population by nearly 11,700 people and 6,600 households over the past year. Many of these residents are opting to rent, as rising home prices place homeownership beyond the reach of more households. During the past five years, the median price of a single-family home has soared 68 percent to $177,053 as of March. Highly amenitized homes or properties in desired areas such as downtown Detroit, Troy or Royal Oak, have much higher median prices, making renting a more affordable option in numerous areas of the region. Construction concentrations Multifamily construction is gaining traction in the suburbs. Completions in the …
If Steve Hovland’s near-term outlook for U.S. job growth is correct, the second half of 2017 looks quite promising for the commercial real estate industry. “The pace of hiring should accelerate in the second half of the year as Congress moves past healthcare reform and begins to lift regulations that stymie growth,” says the director of research at Irvine, California-based HomeUnion Inc., an online real estate management firm that helps individuals invest remotely in rental properties. “Furthermore, companies will have a better understanding of how policy changes will evolve with the new administration, giving them more confidence to resume hiring,” continues Hovland. “We expect 1.4 million new jobs to be created over the final two quarters of 2017.” The comments from Hovland come on the heels of the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which shows total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 222,000 in June, beating economists’ expectations. Leading up to the release of the report last Friday, the consensus among the nation’s top forecasters was that the U.S. economy had added 180,000 jobs in June. The BLS also revised the job gains for April and May upward by 47,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose slightly …
The Houston retail market experienced modest improvement in 2011 as the area economy began to shake off the effects of the national recession with strong local job growth and reasonably steady, if not particularly noteworthy, housing starts. Positive retail space absorption of 2.8 million square feet combined with only 1.2 million square feet of new construction resulted in a decline in the overall retail vacancy rate from 7.1 percent in the first quarter of 2011 to 6.7 percent at year-end. However, average quoted rental rates edged down slightly from $14.51 per square foot in the first quarter to $14.35 per square foot in the fourth quarter. Although the retail statistics for the past year aren’t terribly compelling on their own, they are more encouraging in the context of the regional economy in the sense that retail leasing and development activity generally lags the overall economy. The national recession hit Houston in full force in September 2008. The area lost 152,800 jobs through January 2010. In February 2010, Houston began to create new jobs again, and by October 2011, Houston had regained all the jobs lost during the recession. The Greater Houston Partnership projects that the Houston metro area will add …
