Multifamily

AvalonBay Sells 504-Unit Multifamily Community in New York City Suburb for $147M

by Haisten Willis September 7, 2016

NANUET, N.Y. — AvalonBay Communities Inc. (NYSE: AVB) has sold eaves Nanuet, a 504-unit multifamily community in the New York City suburb of Nanuet, for $147 million. A joint venture between Harbor Group International LLC and Azure Partners LLC purchased the asset free and clear of existing debt. The community is situated on 54 acres at 100 Avalon Gardens Drive. HFF represented AvalonBay in the transaction. The property is located near Interstate 287’s intersection with the Garden State Parkway and Palisades Interstate Parkway. Nanuet’s Metro North train station and park and ride lot are also located nearby. The 97 percent-leased community includes 64 buildings with a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments averaging 1,208 square feet. Apartments feature loft spaces, gas fireplaces, closet and attic storage, in-unit washers and dryers, direct-access personal garages, and patios/balconies. Community amenities include an outdoor swimming pool with sun deck, two tennis courts, grilling areas, two playgrounds, clubhouse, fitness center, yoga room, indoor basketball and racquetball courts, and a resident lounge with a fireplace and business center. Jose Cruz, Kevin O’Hearn, Michael Oliver, Stephen Simonelli and Robert Borny led the HFF investment sales team representing the seller. “Demand for well-located, value-add multifamily housing continues to …

September 7, 2016

Multifamily Southeast Top Stories Virginia

22 Capital Partners Launches 2.5 MSF, $500M Gramercy District Mixed-Use Project Near Washington, D.C.

by Nellie Day August 22, 2016

CHANTILLY, VA. — 22 Capital Partners has announced plans to build the $500 million Gramercy District, a “smart city” mixed-use project in Chantilly, just outside of Washington, D.C. The 2.5-million-square-foot development will include apartments, retail, hotels, offices, outdoor plazas and public spaces. Phase I of Gramercy District will include a 268-unit apartment building, 25,800 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 25,000 square feet of open plaza space for pop-up retail stores. The project will eventually include a 250-room hotel and two office buildings. Trinity Group Construction and the Tishman Construction unit of AECOM will build the project, which DVA Architects will design. Greystar will provide pre-construction consulting and property management services. The four firms join existing development partners, including Bowman Consulting Group, McGuire Woods, Benton Potter & Murdock, Microsoft, the Center for Innovative Technology and the George Washington University. This announcement follows the formation of 22 CityLink, a technology company developing the “smart city” platform that will be used for the development of Gramercy District. — Nellie Day

August 22, 2016

Georgia Multifamily Southeast Tennessee Top Stories

Mid-America Apartment Communities to Acquire Post Properties in $4B Multifamily REIT Merger

by Nellie Day August 15, 2016

MEMPHIS, TENN., AND ATLANTA — Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE: MAA) has agreed to acquire Post Properties (NYSE: PPS) in an all-stock deal that values Post, a developer and operator of upscale multifamily communities, at nearly $4 billion. The merger will create a Sunbelt-focused, publicly traded multifamily REIT. The acquisition brings together two multifamily portfolios totaling approximately 105,000 multifamily units in 317 properties. The combined company plans to focus on urban and suburban locations in large and secondary markets within the Sunbelt region, which stretches from coast to coast along the southern United States. The combined company’s 10 largest markets by unit count will be Atlanta; Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and Houston, Texas; Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C.; Orlando and Tampa, Fla.; and Washington, DC. Each share of Post common stock will be converted into 0.71 shares of newly issued MAA common stock, per the agreement. Former MAA equity holders will maintain about 67.7 percent of the combined company’s equity, while former Post equity holders will hold the remaining 32.3 percent on a pro-forma basis. The all-stock merger is intended to be a tax-deferred transaction. The combined company is expected to have a pro-forma equity market capitalization of about $12 billion, as …

August 15, 2016

Market Reports Multifamily Texas Texas Market Reports

Houston’s Apartment Gains and Pains Haven’t Been Equally Distributed

by Haisten Willis August 5, 2016

The downturn in the upstream oil and gas industry, caused by the low prices of these commodities, has been the subject of continuous examination and prognostication since its onset in late 2014, particularly in the Houston region. Though it has diversified its economy somewhat since the 1980s, when its overdependence on that industry brought ruin to its economy, Houston remains the large Texas metro most economically tied to oil and gas. Houston benefited from those ties from 2011 to 2014, during the period of surging fortunes in that sector, by adding 380,000 jobs. However, because this tremendous boom in employment was less economically diversified than the region’s overall economy, when upstream oil and gas abruptly switched from growth to contraction, so did the region’s growth prospects. Houston’s other economic sectors at this point are not growing substantially enough to keep net growth strongly positive in terms of jobs. So far they are merely keeping the region in an essentially stagnant condition. The Push for Amenities All sectors of Houston-area real estate have felt an impact from this reversal, but to varying extents. The apartment market, which is traditionally among the sectors most directly tied to current employment levels, is receiving …

August 5, 2016

Market Reports Michigan Midwest Midwest Market Reports Multifamily

Metro Detroit Apartment Market Finds Its Groove

by Christina Cannon August 4, 2016

Favorable hiring trends in metro Detroit have driven household formation to its highest point since the start of the new millennium. As a result, multifamily asset performance and operations have shown marked improvement with respect to demand, occupancy, rents and prices. In the first quarter of the year, local employers created 14,500 jobs for a year-over-year gain of 2.3 percent, which brought Detroit’s unemployment level to its lowest level since 2001. Employment advances were led by the professional and business services sector as well as the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 16,100 and 6,000 workers, respectively. Total employment at the end of 2016 is projected to be 1.9 percent higher than it was at the end of 2015. The generally higher paying professional and business services jobs will lead to broad-based employment growth through the rest of the year, and gains in this segment are expected to support growing demand for luxury rentals. In any event, rental demand in Detroit is on the rise for the foreseeable future. Construction takes off Encouraged by positive employment trends, economic indicators and a recovering automotive industry, new construction, renovation and conversion are thriving. Developers have new multifamily projects underway in more than …

August 4, 2016

Indiana Market Reports Midwest Midwest Market Reports Multifamily Uncategorized

College Students, Tech Jobs Are Drivers of Niche Apartment Construction

by Christina Cannon July 21, 2016

Growth in the Indianapolis downtown multifamily market is as dynamic as the city itself. Since 2013, 3,000 units have been delivered and leased up rapidly. The vacancy rate registers 4.5 percent in a submarket that historically has seen vacancy rates of around 8 percent. Demand is healthy and growth continues, with another 283 units scheduled for delivery by the end of this year. A unique contributor to this multifamily construction boom is the downtown campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), the IU Law School and the IU Medical School. A sudden building spree of more than $100 million of student-focused projects is occurring downtown near IUPUI. With more than 1,000 units currently under construction or in the works, these new deliveries signal a real change for IUPUI from a commuter orientation to that of a residential campus. These off-campus locations will likely appeal to young professionals as well, and savvy developers are making certain to provide conventional units as part of their mix. The largest such development currently under construction is Trinitas Ventures’ 193-unit, 669-bed project at the northeast corner of Michigan Street and Capitol Avenue. Known as Lux On Capitol, the student housing development is due to open …

July 21, 2016

Georgia Multifamily Southeast

Atlanta’s Growth Puts Pressure on Affordable Rental Housing

by John Nelson July 18, 2016

With Atlanta’s recent growth in population and workforce, the city has all the attributes of a strong multifamily market. Last year saw peaks in all major metrics: occupancy, absorption and rent. With no end in sight for either trend, developers and investors have focused on urban submarkets — leaving a dearth of inventory in the suburbs and looming questions. Can Atlanta continue to provide affordable communities for its growing middle class or is a housing shortage imminent? A Balancing Act Development has always been a balancing act between the availability of land/zoning, construction costs and the rents a new property can demand. In recent years, almost all new apartment construction has been in high density “urban core” locations. Today, urban locations have matured and are commanding the highest rents in the market due to fundamental changes in perceptions of urban living. Steep rents help offset high construction costs and developers often find more receptive audiences during their zoning hearings in urban areas. While there are pockets of new development in suburban “core” markets, the low levels of activity in the last 10 years don’t compare to Atlanta’s past. For this reason alone, expect to see a long period of rental …

July 18, 2016

Market Reports Multifamily Texas Texas Market Reports

Oil Prices Cause Dip in Multifamily Market, But Value-Add Opportunities Remain Strong

by Haisten Willis July 15, 2016

Although Houston’s local economy is not exclusively dependent on oil and gas, re-energizing this sector will be key to a multifamily rebound in the area. Since the downturn in oil prices over the last two years, Houston’s multifamily market has been one of the most impacted victims of the area’s economic slowdown. Oil and gas is estimated to represent about one-fifth of Houston’s economy. This does not include construction and other new development that depends on the oil and gas industry. The Houston market’s annual rent growth rate is well below the national average of 4.1 percent, according to Axiometrics’ Houston-area Market Performance Survey. From the fourth quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016, the annual growth rate in Houston’s multifamily sector was only 0.8 percent. The annual effective rent growth in the area is forecast to be 2.4 percent in 2017 and is expected to average 3.6 percent from 2018 to 2020. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth in the Houston metro area was 0.3 percent in April 2016, reflecting 10,000 jobs added during the preceding 12-month period. The metro job growth figure was below the national number of 1.9 percent. Limited Demand On …

July 15, 2016

Alabama Market Reports Multifamily Southeast Southeast Market Reports

Birmingham’s Apartment Market Feeds Off Downtown’s Renaissance

by John Nelson June 20, 2016

Birmingham’s renaissance has been underway for several years now, but it has taken some time for the rest of the world to find out. This year they started paying attention. The opening of Railroad Park, Regions Field, the Iron City event venue and now the recently restored Lyric Theatre have made it clear that there are intriguing things going on in downtown Birmingham. Lonely Planet, the respected travel information source, included Birmingham in its “2016 Best in the U.S.” list, asking, “Could Birmingham be the coolest city in the South?” Food media giant Zagat named Birmingham “America’s No. 1 Next Hot Food City” and the Travel Channel chose Birmingham to its list of “11 Next Great Destinations.” Foodies and fashionistas are not the only groups showing interest in Birmingham. Multifamily investors have been building new developments and acquiring and repositioning existing properties over the past few years. This activity reflects national trends — investors looking for alternatives to top-tier markets and Millennials gravitating to an affordable urban core. Nonetheless, with its burgeoning downtown food and arts scene, Birmingham has earned a second look. Strong Year for Downtown Developers liked what they saw and acted accordingly. In 2014 and 2015, plans …

June 20, 2016

Georgia Multifamily Southeast Top Stories

Cushman & Wakefield Acquires Multi Housing Advisors in the Southeast

by Nellie Day June 6, 2016

ATLANTA — Cushman & Wakefield has acquired Atlanta-based Multi Housing Advisors (MHA), creating one of the largest multifamily brokerage platforms in the Southeast. MHA has closed 23.8 percent of the Southeast’s total multifamily investment sales transactions this year, according to the company. The combined firms brokered nearly $3 billion in transactions, including 20 percent of all Southeastern multifamily sales in 2015. MHA co-founders Josh Goldfarb and Marc Robinson will serve as Cushman & Wakefield’s U.S. multifamily leaders. They will be based in Atlanta and Charlotte, respectively. Goldfarb and Robinson founded MHA in 2002. The company has produced transaction volume totaling more than $5.9 billion in the past five years. MHA has sold more than 140,000 multifamily units through more than 850 individual transactions since its inception. The firm brings 13 brokerage professionals and a staff of 35 to Cushman & Wakefield, and adds on-the-ground employees to the Southeast, with offices in Birmingham and Charlotte. “Adding MHA exemplifies Cushman & Wakefield’s commitment to growing our capital markets platform, especially in the multifamily sector,” says Noble Carpenter, Cushman & Wakefield president of capital markets for the Americas. “Strategically, we are deeper and positioned to serve clients across the spectrum of multifamily properties …

June 6, 2016

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