A luxury apartment community planned for Hyde Park is being delayed until the economy and local housing market improve, the developer said Friday. Construction was supposed to start this year on 192-unit Post Soho Square at the corner of South Howard and Swann avenues in Tampa.
"But the overall economic conditions warrant delaying the start," said Tom Senkbeil, executive vice president and chief investment officer for Post Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Atlanta.
The starting date for the project, which will include 17,000 square feet of retail space, will be reassessed in January.
"We plan on developing this property," Senkbeil said, adding that the company doesn't intend to sell the 4-acre site. "It's just that in Tampa you have a very large unoccupied condominium overhang," Senkbeil said.
Many of those condominiums might be converted to apartments, possibly saturating the market, he said.
Post Properties (NYSE: PPS) paid $12 million for the site in 2005. The company manages and develops apartment complexes. It owns several thousand apartments in the area.
(from tampabaybizjournal.com)
July 28, 2008
July 23, 2008
Free Movies for Residents
Who doesn't like a good summer movie? The Dark Knight? Amazing! Mamma Mia? We cried and laughed! Iron Man? Fun! Men in Black and Independence Day! Cool! Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Eh, well, not everything can be good.
Cue 'Mondays under the Moon', a new film series hosted by the Edge condominium project in Brooklyn as well as the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. This fantastic idea, open to residents and film buffs alike, will feature such films as Moonstruck, The Astronaut Farmer, The Wind and the Lion, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Sound like a good idea? It is! Take it and make it your own! Your residents deserve it, plus, it's free marketing! Makes us want to take a look at The Edge...
New York Developer Hosts Free Movie Series for Residents, Film Buffs (multihousingnews.com)
Cue 'Mondays under the Moon', a new film series hosted by the Edge condominium project in Brooklyn as well as the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. This fantastic idea, open to residents and film buffs alike, will feature such films as Moonstruck, The Astronaut Farmer, The Wind and the Lion, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Sound like a good idea? It is! Take it and make it your own! Your residents deserve it, plus, it's free marketing! Makes us want to take a look at The Edge...
New York Developer Hosts Free Movie Series for Residents, Film Buffs (multihousingnews.com)
July 10, 2008
NAA 2008 Education Session: CEO Roundtable
Let's be honest with each for a moment. Our first job and priority is advertising sales for Apartment Finder magazine here in lovely Tampa Bay. We are here for our advertisers and for their customers. Many times this prevents us from blogging and this was one of those times. We had a full page of notes on the CEO roundtable and was all ready to blog it when priority one (our job) reared its head and no time was left to post. We're sorry.
However, the good folks over at multi-housing news (again!) have a great article up that encapsulates what we heard from the CEO's of the roundtable (cue up Monty Python music: we're CEO's of the Roundtable and we dance whenever we're able...) So, we are going to post a link to the article below. The roundtable consisted of Steven D. Bell, chairman & CEO of Steven D. Bell & Co; David Stockert, CEO of Post Properties; Terry Danner, CEO of Riverstone Residential Group, a Consolidated American Services (CAS) Group Services; Keith Oden, President, COO and Trust Manager of Camden Property Trust.
One point we would like to note about the discussion, and since we are fake pretend amateur economists, was on the outlook each CEO had on the economy. Three of the CEO's agreed that the economy as a whole would be slow to respond until '10-'11 with a rebound in late '09 a possibility. Two of the three said that it will probably get worse economically before we start to see a recovery.
Overall the discussion could have been a bit more energized and exciting however, the overall gist of the discussion was pretty frank and a good indicator into what keeps these guys up at night.
How Top CEOs Are Dealing With Rising Energy Costs, Other Challenges (multihousingnews.com)
However, the good folks over at multi-housing news (again!) have a great article up that encapsulates what we heard from the CEO's of the roundtable (cue up Monty Python music: we're CEO's of the Roundtable and we dance whenever we're able...) So, we are going to post a link to the article below. The roundtable consisted of Steven D. Bell, chairman & CEO of Steven D. Bell & Co; David Stockert, CEO of Post Properties; Terry Danner, CEO of Riverstone Residential Group, a Consolidated American Services (CAS) Group Services; Keith Oden, President, COO and Trust Manager of Camden Property Trust.
One point we would like to note about the discussion, and since we are fake pretend amateur economists, was on the outlook each CEO had on the economy. Three of the CEO's agreed that the economy as a whole would be slow to respond until '10-'11 with a rebound in late '09 a possibility. Two of the three said that it will probably get worse economically before we start to see a recovery.
Overall the discussion could have been a bit more energized and exciting however, the overall gist of the discussion was pretty frank and a good indicator into what keeps these guys up at night.
How Top CEOs Are Dealing With Rising Energy Costs, Other Challenges (multihousingnews.com)
July 8, 2008
Could These Articles Possibly be Related to One Another?
AirTran to cut 480 jobs to reduce costs (Tampa Bay Business Journal)
Fewer fliers at Tampa International Airport (Tampa Bay Business Journal)
The airline had projected to grow about 10 percent this year, but because of high fuel costs, it is reducing capacity by 5 percent. The job cuts mirror the capacity cuts.
We're not economists but maybe these are related? Is it all energy related? Some of it surely, but all? We're not convinced, but we'll go with the 'ancient business practices with no innovation' for $200 please Alex.
Whatever the culprit, it doesn't bode well for Tampa in general, as again, more job losses make the business news.
Fewer fliers at Tampa International Airport (Tampa Bay Business Journal)
The airline had projected to grow about 10 percent this year, but because of high fuel costs, it is reducing capacity by 5 percent. The job cuts mirror the capacity cuts.
We're not economists but maybe these are related? Is it all energy related? Some of it surely, but all? We're not convinced, but we'll go with the 'ancient business practices with no innovation' for $200 please Alex.
Whatever the culprit, it doesn't bode well for Tampa in general, as again, more job losses make the business news.
Job Growth Can Stem Rising Vacancy
Quick article this morning from the Tampa Bay Biz Journal regarding office rental rate declines. Office vacancy rates can be tied to business development and employment, i.e a high vacancy rate can point to a higher than normal or undesirable unemployment rate whereas an acceptable or desirable occupancy rate points to a normal or economically acceptable employment rate. This affects our industry as well because high employment=renters while low employment=move outs and a higher vacancy rate. Cue the Circle of Life music.
One particular quote stands out to us as not particularly encouraging.
The overall vacancy rate for both counties [Hillsborough and Pinellas]has increased 2.2 percent over the past 12 months as the area's unemployment rate hit 5.6 percent in May, up from 3.7 percent a year earlier.
Up 1.9 percent form a year ago. Roughly translated that is about 20,000 workers from the counties 750,000+ workforce. Doesn't seem like a lot but that is a significant difference from the previous year and that is a significant amount of renters.
Office rental rates go down in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties (Tampa Bay Business Journal)
One particular quote stands out to us as not particularly encouraging.
The overall vacancy rate for both counties [Hillsborough and Pinellas]has increased 2.2 percent over the past 12 months as the area's unemployment rate hit 5.6 percent in May, up from 3.7 percent a year earlier.
Up 1.9 percent form a year ago. Roughly translated that is about 20,000 workers from the counties 750,000+ workforce. Doesn't seem like a lot but that is a significant difference from the previous year and that is a significant amount of renters.
Office rental rates go down in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties (Tampa Bay Business Journal)
July 2, 2008
More Design: An Interview with Adrienne Faulkner
We admit it, we are design geeks. We love architecture, interior design, remodeling, rehabbing, urban speculation, structural engineering, and pretty much anything else that has to do with form following function. Not a day goes by that we aren't reading notcot.org for design ideas or hitting up bldgblog for the latest in architectural news or a myriad of other sources to get our fix.
With that spirit in mind, we want to bring you an interview conducted by multi housing news with the immensely talented Adrienne Faulkner, founder of Dallas-based Faulkner Design Group. Faulkner has worked on more than 600 projects since 1991, and currently works on 40 projects annually from Manhattan and the Canadian provinces to Santa Monica and Los Angeles. Her group handles design on condos, senior living facilities, corporate offices, hi-rises, apartment communities, as well as a host of other dwelling types. We found this interview apropos of our current design posts (see yesterday's post on the design and architecture educational session we attended at NAA 2008) and we hope you enjoy some more insight into one of the industry's leading designers.
Q&A with Adrienne Faulkner: Multifamily Properties Sell with Design-Driven Marketing (multihousingnews.com)
With that spirit in mind, we want to bring you an interview conducted by multi housing news with the immensely talented Adrienne Faulkner, founder of Dallas-based Faulkner Design Group. Faulkner has worked on more than 600 projects since 1991, and currently works on 40 projects annually from Manhattan and the Canadian provinces to Santa Monica and Los Angeles. Her group handles design on condos, senior living facilities, corporate offices, hi-rises, apartment communities, as well as a host of other dwelling types. We found this interview apropos of our current design posts (see yesterday's post on the design and architecture educational session we attended at NAA 2008) and we hope you enjoy some more insight into one of the industry's leading designers.
Q&A with Adrienne Faulkner: Multifamily Properties Sell with Design-Driven Marketing (multihousingnews.com)
July 1, 2008
NAA 2008 Education Session: Design is The New Black
Leasing Apartments with Smart Design was a fascinating session led by Lori Snider of Creativity for Rent and Sanford Steinberg of Steinberg Design Collaborative, LLP. Design is the differentiator in today’s cookie-cutter multi-family housing market they argue. Even for the most mundane of products, which unfortunately are more of the norm than the exception, design can add emotional appeal, value and can make the community desirable. There is so much information in the world of design that one hour hardly seemed fair to Lori and Sanford, yet they were able to rapidly divulge information that left all of us satisfied. To highlight that point, in 1970, there were three notable design magazines available on newsstands. Today, that number exceeds 50. Design truly is the new black.
We decided that the best way to present this information for our bloggy purposes would be in bullet point style, so below are some design elements and tips that we look forward to exploring further.
• Be something to somebody and not everything to everybody. How deep is that? Sounds like a saying from Confucius but it is true; we need to ask ourselves what demographic am I trying to cater too? Who is looking at my community and who is my prospective customer?
• Where is the surprise? We all like surprises so why not present them in our rehab and/or design work.
• Where are the impact areas? Are your customers being impacted upon viewing presented space, i.e. community models? If no impact is being made then a change needs to be made, particularly if it involves space. Wasted space (the keyword here is wasted, not just space in general) is exactly that a wasting of usable space.
• Large framed mirrors are in.
• Design elements your customers can touch, for example water faucets, door handles, door knobs, lamps, drawers and cabinets, can be very powerful and can create an emotional attachment to the unit in question.
• The number one want by residents inside the apartment is storage space so make a point to showcase the storage space available inside your units! This includes closet space, possible pantry space, laundry room space, etc. This includes knowing the exact measurements for the space of your closets and utility rooms. Letting your customer know that a specific closet/room is 6x8 is much more powerful than saying ‘This is a large space’.
• Count the number of cupboards and drawers in your units. Saying you have 20 of something sounds much more powerful than saying lots and lots of something.
• Use real plants in the clubhouse and in your models instead of plastic plants. Customers and renters want green, so give them green. The natural kind, not the plastic kind. Besides, how hard is it to keep up with a plant? If you can’t do that, then how can you keep up with a full model renting for $1100 a month? Real green could equal real green (money!).
• Offer a one color accent wall that the prospective renter can pick out. This element gives a sense of ownership to the renter as well as autonomy which in turn give them a want to stay longer. Plus an accent wall looks damn cool.
• Smaller furniture makes floorplans look larger. Why use old 80’s giant oak furniture when you can use a sleeker more post-modern 00’s steel or ‘framed’ look and enhance the size of your floorplans by allowing more space to be visible. Clutter (see wasted space) is not a design element, it’s just clutter. Let the floodplains be a design element itself by proclaiming its own space.
• The consumer buys the community not the company. Design your marketing and your community on the feel of the community not the feel of the company. A community in Plano, TX should not look or be marketed like a community in San Francisco, CA even if they are owned by the same community. These are two different cultures taking up two different spaces. Design your community by who makes up your community, where your community is located, and why your community is where it is for this time and place.
We did not include two design elements that we would like to expand on at a later date because we feel that an entire post needs to be devoted to them and them alone. However, these tips and design elements listed above we found to be very important and we hope that even if you just use one or two, that you find yourself taking a closer look at design and what design can do for you and your community.
We decided that the best way to present this information for our bloggy purposes would be in bullet point style, so below are some design elements and tips that we look forward to exploring further.
• Be something to somebody and not everything to everybody. How deep is that? Sounds like a saying from Confucius but it is true; we need to ask ourselves what demographic am I trying to cater too? Who is looking at my community and who is my prospective customer?
• Where is the surprise? We all like surprises so why not present them in our rehab and/or design work.
• Where are the impact areas? Are your customers being impacted upon viewing presented space, i.e. community models? If no impact is being made then a change needs to be made, particularly if it involves space. Wasted space (the keyword here is wasted, not just space in general) is exactly that a wasting of usable space.
• Large framed mirrors are in.
• Design elements your customers can touch, for example water faucets, door handles, door knobs, lamps, drawers and cabinets, can be very powerful and can create an emotional attachment to the unit in question.
• The number one want by residents inside the apartment is storage space so make a point to showcase the storage space available inside your units! This includes closet space, possible pantry space, laundry room space, etc. This includes knowing the exact measurements for the space of your closets and utility rooms. Letting your customer know that a specific closet/room is 6x8 is much more powerful than saying ‘This is a large space’.
• Count the number of cupboards and drawers in your units. Saying you have 20 of something sounds much more powerful than saying lots and lots of something.
• Use real plants in the clubhouse and in your models instead of plastic plants. Customers and renters want green, so give them green. The natural kind, not the plastic kind. Besides, how hard is it to keep up with a plant? If you can’t do that, then how can you keep up with a full model renting for $1100 a month? Real green could equal real green (money!).
• Offer a one color accent wall that the prospective renter can pick out. This element gives a sense of ownership to the renter as well as autonomy which in turn give them a want to stay longer. Plus an accent wall looks damn cool.
• Smaller furniture makes floorplans look larger. Why use old 80’s giant oak furniture when you can use a sleeker more post-modern 00’s steel or ‘framed’ look and enhance the size of your floorplans by allowing more space to be visible. Clutter (see wasted space) is not a design element, it’s just clutter. Let the floodplains be a design element itself by proclaiming its own space.
• The consumer buys the community not the company. Design your marketing and your community on the feel of the community not the feel of the company. A community in Plano, TX should not look or be marketed like a community in San Francisco, CA even if they are owned by the same community. These are two different cultures taking up two different spaces. Design your community by who makes up your community, where your community is located, and why your community is where it is for this time and place.
We did not include two design elements that we would like to expand on at a later date because we feel that an entire post needs to be devoted to them and them alone. However, these tips and design elements listed above we found to be very important and we hope that even if you just use one or two, that you find yourself taking a closer look at design and what design can do for you and your community.
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