The great migration to the Sunshine State isn’t slowing down. In this list of the fastest growing areas in the U.S., Florida cities hold 9 of the top 15 spots. The population growth continues to drive a need for new housing developments in our state, and across the country. All of the factors that made multifamily housing enticing back in 2019 when I wrote this article, hold true today — but with some new challenges on the horizon. That’s one reason I’m looking forward to attending the National Multifamily Housing Council Annual Meeting next week in Las Vegas. I’m excited to talk with industry experts, owners, and fellow builders about some of the issues impacting new deals, driving trends, and some of the key challenges our industries will have to find solutions for in 2025 and beyond. Here’s 3 trends I think people will be talking about, and I hope to learn more about, next week:
1. Attainable Housing
It’s been the same story for several years — there’s a shortage in single-family housing, interest rates are high, and rents on multifamily housing are up. That all adds up to a very difficult market for a large percentage of the population to find attainable housing options. The bottom line is the fast-growing metropolitans across the country can’t continue to support this rate of growth if they don’t solve the attainable housing problem. People who can’t afford to live in certain cities, will move to places where they can. I expect this is a problem that developers across the country are working to solve right now — potentially merging components of attainable housing options with their luxury apartment developments or exploring different designs that provide quality housing at more affordable rent rates. I am also eager to hear which cities are or might offer incentives to developers who will build attainable housing. I believe that it will take the public and private sectors working together to solve this problem, keep the market active, and be able to support the ongoing population growth.
2. Co-Living Facilities
This is an interesting potential solution to the attainable housing issue. I’m seeing more new developments featuring shared housing options that provide renters with an opportunity to live at the heart of downtown areas, at a lower rent. The basic model of these developments is reminiscent of college dorms, with shared living spaces, included utilities, furnished units, and a variety of attractive community amenities. These developments are on the rise and can provide a more feasible alternative to young professionals, recent graduates, or anyone who is facing sticker shock over downtown rent rates. Our Texas teams have experience building co-living facilities, and I expect this trend to continue to take off as we see more bid requests on these types of projects pop up in the future.
3. Office to Apartment Opportunities
There’s an ongoing movement in the real estate industry to find vacant office properties and redevelop them into profitable multifamily developments. It’s a very interesting trend that is solving two problems in one — utilizing the surplus of office space in downtown and desirable metro areas while providing relief to the housing shortage. Our D.C. division is wrapping up this exact type of project in Virginia right now. I am interested in finding out what more we can do with vacant office properties. If certain properties aren’t right for luxury apartments, as our own experts have pointed out many sites are not, could some office buildings be better suited for attainable living properties? I think we are just on the cutting edge of possibilities with this development trend, and I look forward to talking about this more with industry leaders, including my colleague Rob Mooney whose division is seeing quite a few of these proposed developments in the surrounding D.C. metro area.
That’s just three things that come to mind when I consider what I am most eager to learn more about in sessions and dive into deeper conversations with other attendees about next week. The multifamily development industry has remained an active market despite significant challenges from inflation, interest rates, rising construction costs, supply chain issues, and population booms. I am looking forward to talking about this resilient industry our company is proud to build for and be a part of and be a part of the conversation in how we can tackle both ongoing and new challenges impacting the market in the coming year.
