Multifamily housing: 7 exciting, inspiring innovations [AIA Course]

The multifamily sector is not showing any signs of slowing down. The U.S. market needs to add at least 400,000 rental units a year to serve the nation’s housing needs, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association (see: http://nmhc.org/Apartments-Economic-Impact/).

On the side of homeownership, U.S. Census data shows that three-quarters (76%) of condominium and cooperative units that came on line in Q4/2015 were sold within three months of completion (www.census.gov/housing/soma/).

The demand is being found not just in big cities like Fort Worth, Texas, Charlotte, and Nashville but also in second-tier metros like Charleston, S.C., and Harrisburg, Pa. San Antonio’s Broadway Corridor, Austin’s Riverview area, and Downtown Los Angeles, known as DTLA, are hot markets that have used local ordinances and targeted investment to create 24-hour dining and shopping zones to lure young professionals and growing families into these new residential enclaves.

Let’s look at seven novel approaches developers and Building Teams are taking to respond to competitive pressures and build more quickly and with more attractive offerings in new and reconstructed multifamily developments.

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Across the country, multifamily rents have skyrocketed. Year-over-year rents are up by double digits in nine of the top 30 markets, while national YoY rent growth is up 6.3%. Emerging from the pandemic, a perfect storm of migration, enhanced government stimulus and a hot housing market, among other factors, has enabled this extremely strong growth.