Can Atlanta's apartment owners achieve $2/SF rents? One of the city's most prolific developers made that prediction yesterday atBisnow's Future of Midtown event at The W Hotel.
Novare Co's
Jim Borders says when taking into account
smaller apartment unit sizes, Atlanta gross rents can very well achieve the
$2 "Holy Grail," especially in Midtown, where Novare's iconic
SkyHouse Midtown is now open. "Midtown is a live-work-play experience," Jim says, noting that a lot of people who live in Midtown don't work in Midtown, but just like the
experience of living there.
More than
400 CRE pros joined us for the morning event. Jamestown Properties'
Matt Bronfman says Midtown "has the
best fundamentals that lead me to believe it has rent growth to go." That's a good thing, he adds, since rent growth will
insulate the market from
cap rates if and when they rise.
Hines Interest's
Kurt Hartman— whose company has jumped into multifamily, including
1377 Dresden—sees apartment
rents rising in the Southeast. And the units coming on line should be enough to meet the
increase in demand. "But I think that
careful thought needs to be given for additional units," he says.
Will apartments
convert into condos? At least two of our panelists don't see that happening. Matt
(above)
says banks are still uncomfortable with lending to consumers to buy housing. And
underwriting of apartments is making owners keep the projects for the long haul, as
prices don't pencil out and the math doesn't lend itself to conversions, Jim echoed.
