The National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association launched the latest phase of “WeAreApartments,” a marketing campaign that promotes the importance of the apartment industry to the U.S. economy.
Using research from George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis, the groups claim that there are more than 37 million Americans—12% of the population—living in just under 20 million apartment units nationwide. Apartments and their residents contribute $1.3 trillion annually to the economy through construction, property management, and other jobs the industry supports.
This research provides some interesting factoids about the apartment sector: For example, 49% are one-person households, compared to 24% of apartments with three or more people in them. The highest portion of apartment buildings—27%—has either 50 units or more, or a between five and nine units. The apartment housing stock is aging, too: more than half was built between 1959 and 1979.
The campaign contends that the country needs between 300,000 and 400,000 new apartments each year to keep up with demand.
Apartments contribute more to the New York metropolitan area’s economy—$111.5 billion annually—than in any other market. Multifamily accounted for 44% of residential permits issued in Dallas-Fort Worth last year. And $2.3 billion was spent on apartment construction in Los Angeles.
(The campaign’s website includes an Apartment Community Estimator, which allows metros and states to figure out the economic construction from the apartment sector in their respective areas.)
The campaign contends that the country needs between 300,000 and 400,000 new apartments each year to keep up with demand. “What construction has accelerated in response, many communities still lack sufficient housing options,” it reports.
To get its message out, the groups sponsoring this campaign have devised a new series of print and online ads that attempts to get beyond perceived stereotypes about apartment dwellers. For example, one ad shows a young African-American woman sitting in the kitchen of her apartment. The ad describes her as “Botanist. Swim Coach. Pickle Easter. Renter,” followed by the campaign’s tagline “Apartments. We Live Her.” Another ad states humorously that “Liberals Live In Them. So Do Conservatives, But In Another Wing.”
One of the campaign’s more provocative messages is that apartment dwellers are fulfilling their “The American Dream.” That phrase, heretofore, had been reserved for homeownership, but younger Americans’ avidity for owning a house is still uncertain.
Related Stories
Projects | Mar 18, 2022
Former department store transformed into 1 million sf mixed-use complex
Sibley Square, a giant mixed-use complex project that transformed a nearly derelict former department store was recently completed in Rochester, N.Y.
Multifamily Housing | Mar 15, 2022
Multifamily rents climbed 15.4 percent in one year
Multifamily asking rents picked up another $10 in February to reach a national average $1,628, and year-over-year growth recorded a 15.4 percent bump, according to the new Yardi Matrix Multifamily National Report.
Multifamily Housing | Mar 15, 2022
A 42-story tower envelops residents in Vancouver’s natural beauty
The city of Vancouver is world-renowned for the stunning nature that surrounds it: water, beaches, mountains. A 42-story tower, Fifteen Fifteen, will envelop residents in that natural beauty.
Multifamily Housing | Mar 15, 2022
Hermosa Village earns 2021 NAHB Best in American Living Award
Cadence McShane Construction Company received first place in this year's NAHB Best in American Living Award for its Hermosa Village project.
Projects | Mar 11, 2022
Suffolk completes construction of luxury condominium 2000 Ocean
The 38-story glass-encased tower along the beach on 1.3 acres is owned by KAR Properties and designed by TEN Arquitectos.
Projects | Mar 9, 2022
New 243-unit luxury apartment community opens in St. Paul, Minn.
Waterford Bay, a four-story, 243-unit luxury multifamily development recently opened in St. Paul, Minn.
Mass Timber | Mar 8, 2022
Heavy timber office and boutique residential building breaks ground in Austin
T3 Eastside, a heavy timber office and boutique residential building, recently broke ground in Austin, Texas.
Multifamily Housing | Mar 4, 2022
221,000 renters identify what they want in multifamily housing, post-Covid-19
Fresh data from the 2022 NMHC/Grace Hill Renter Preferences Survey shows how remote work is impacting renters' wants and needs in apartment developments.
Projects | Mar 2, 2022
Manufacturing plant gets second life as a mixed-use development
Wire Park, a mixed-use development being built near Athens, Ga., will feature 130 residential units plus 225,000 square feet of commercial, office, and retail space. About an hour east of downtown Atlanta, the 66-acre development also will boast expansive public greenspace.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 25, 2022
First set of multifamily properties achieve BREEAM certification in the U.S.
WashREIT says it has achieved certification on eight multifamily assets under BREEAM’s In-Use certification standard.