Spring 2008 Executive Summary - Part IV

Today we present our final piece of our Spring Executive Summary where we take a look at the outlook for 2008 and beyond concerning Features and Amenities for Tampa Bay, Florida and the nation. Enjoy!

Agro-housing is gaining support amongst designers, architects and builders alike. Specifically, as Amara Holstein reported in Dwell magazine in October 2007, these projects essentially combine urban living with multi-story or even single-story greenhouses. The community encourages resident, as well its own staff, to cultivate fruits, spices, plants, and flowers on-site. “A rooftop green space caps off the structure, and passive and active solar energy, along with gray water irrigation and rain water harvesting, helps keep the building also somewhat sustainable in form as well as function.”
Scenic gardens, green rooftops, and other green’ projects are increasingly becoming the norm at more and more communities across the nation. There is no reason, given Florida’s warm, tropical climate, that these ‘green initiatives’ could not be experimented with and implemented locally. Top floor solar paneling as a unit incentive to lower energy costs are also being implemented in apartment dwellings. Sometimes even to the answer of a $0 electric bill! Reclaimed water, while a staple of many municipal governments for parks and gardens, is becoming more and more prevalent for communities to use for grounds watering as well as for aesthetic features such as fountains. Scenic gardens are a great way to show off the beauty of a community’s local landscaping and it also creates a hotspot for communal activity in addition to the pool area, clubhouse or gazebo.
Several communities in Seattle and New York have begun allowing residents to ‘rent’ a car or bike for use for a certain time period during the week or weekends. Instead of driving one’s own car, residents can ‘rent’ the car for an hour to run quick errands or such. This gives the resident the ability to choose a more energy-efficient way to travel and serves as an earth-friendly feature provided by the community.
These ideas build a sense of community which in turn creates a sense of civic and community pride. Ultimately, this creates cleaner units, greener and more appealing communities, happier residents, and reduces the amount of turnover. Community buildings make residents want to stay longer as they feel they are a part of something special.
Potential resident interior design options are increasingly becoming more popular. Allowing residents to choose an accent color for a main wall in an apartment has proven to be a solid selling point, particularly in growing metro areas like Denver, San Francisco, Phoenix, Charlotte and Miami. Built-in mp3 docking components are also increasingly popular as more of these personal gadgets become cost-effective items.
The point of innovation and new ideas is to promote change. Apartment communities need to embrace the changes and new ideas in design, as the competition for housing remains fierce.

Conclusion

To say for certain what lies ahead in 2008 is irresponsible and unwarranted. We can only use the indicators we have from the past several years, including a very tumultuous 2007, to best predict ways to make sure 2008 is as successful as possible for the multi-family housing industry. Several submarkets are already becoming increasingly full of activity and will continue to be so in 2008, such as Pasco County, Hillsborough and the Polk and Manatee markets. The Economic outlook will depend on jobs and wage growth while also depending on a steadying credit/mortgage market. New innovations such as greener features and amenities, more community based initiatives and consumer friendlier apartments will become increasingly popular as the apartment industry works to differentiate itself from a growing housing and condo market.

Sources: (Note: Posting our sources for our Executive Summary is important to us at Apartment Finder Tampa. We believe in transparency and want to be upfront and honest on how we came to our conclusions. If any of the below researchers/reporters believe that we misinterpreted the data, then please let us know as soon as possible so that we can correct the information.)

Powerpoint Presentation at BAAA 13th Annual Developer’s Forum, Wednesday, November 28th, 2007,
Michael Slater, President/CEO, TRIAD research and Consulting, Inc.

Powerpoint Presentation at BAAA 13th Annual Developer’s Forum, Wednesday, November 28th, 2007, Michael Brown, First Advantage SafeRent, “New Tenant Eligibility Requirements & Today’s Credit Challenges”

Tampa Bay Business Journal Online; March 27, 2008; Tampa will grow, but more infrastructure needed, developers say

Tampa Bay Business Journal Online; September 25, 2007; More apartments coming to Westshore

Tampa Bay Business Journal Online; October 18, 2007; Vacancy rising in Tampa, and so are average rents

Apartment Industry Responds to Bush Bailout Proposal Press Release; December 7, 2007; Doug Bibby, President of the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC),

New Cornerstone: Foundations for Florida’s 21st Century Economy 2003 (Revisited 2007); Florida Chamber Foundation

Units Magazine, July, 2007; Home Grown, pgs. 20-28, Todd Tibbits

Carolina REAL DATA Real Estate Information Services, Apartment Index; Tampa Bay December 2007

Agro Housing; Posted by: Amara Holstein on Oct 23, 07; http://www.dwell.com/daily/blog/10561526.html