With few vacancies in downtown Rome, apartment life is growing in popularity

The Latest Local News from the Rome News

As the American dream of home ownership is being challenged by the idea that renting may be a better alternative, developers in Floyd County are starting work on new apartment projects and reviving old ones that had been deferred.

The downtown Rome district currently has 168 rental units — with more than 40 new ones on the horizon in projects by Greg Sumner and Ira Levy — and it’s fast becoming the 24-hour community that some community leaders have been longing for.

Debra McDaniel, of Toles, Temple & Wright Real Estate, is the leasing agent for the West Lofts at 9 E. Second Ave. McDaniel said she gets five or six calls a week from people looking for loft apartments.

Sumner said he was considering a condominium development for his project at 215-217 Broad St., but since there were no comparable units in the area it would have been difficult to get financing.

On the broader scale, there have not been any major apartment developments in Rome since the Ashland Park complex was built off Ga. 53 in 2003.

However, Garden Lakes Realty President Mark Brewster has proposed a 600-unit development along the Etowah River off the East Rome bypass, using the working name of Etowah Grove.

David Doss has proposed building condominiums on West Third Street along the Oostanaula River. But that project has been on hold pending construction of the long-delayed Courtyard by Marriott next to the site Doss has an option on from the city.

Reis Inc., a national commercial property tracking firm, claims the average U.S. apartment rent has increased by more than 14 percent since 2010, to $1,124 a month. That is four points faster than the national rate of inflation and more than twice the increase in average home prices over the same five years.

Reis is projecting another 3.3 percent increase in rental rates this year, and he doesn’t expect any reversal of that in the near future.

The largest reason for the increase in rent is easy to understand: More people are looking for apartments because there are no lawns to mow or shrubs to prune and someone else has to deal with routine maintenance issues.

Phil Jones, a member of the Rome Historic Preservation Commission, lives in the Forrest Place Apartments at 436 Broad St. He said his wife fell in love with the renovation taking place at the Forrest. The maintenance issue was a primary part of his thought process.

“We were the first ones to move in 12 years ago,” Jones said.

Carol Hatch, vice president at Hardy Realty, which manages Forrest Place, said monthly rent for the apartments in the historic property ranges from $675 to $1,200.

“We have no trouble leasing them,” Hatch said. “The rental values have not quite kept up with the national rate all through town, but we have been able to raise them.”

She estimated the increases at between 2- and 3-percent over the last five years.

McDaniel said the rental rates at the West Lofts are actually down from 2010.

“The trends in Atlanta and other areas just don’t filter to Rome, Georgia,” she said. “When I get clients from Atlanta, California or New York, they’re like, ‘Wow, we get this, for this price?’”

‘Everybody wants to be close’

William Flannagan has lived in the West Lofts for eight years.

“I love the sights, I love the sounds, I love the aromas of all the downtown restaurants,” Flannagan said.

West Lofts has one-bedroom apartments that range from $900 to $1,100 per month and two-bedroom apartments that go up to $1,350.

“Everybody wants to be close; we’re all about convenience,” McDaniel said.

The downtown apartments are close to restaurants, The Forum civic center, City Auditorium, Floyd County Courthouse and Floyd Medical Center.

“The word ‘millennial’ is overused, but the number of those folks wanting to live in walking distance downtown is just staggering,” Hatch said.

She said trying to find affordable rentals for that group in particular has been a bit of a challenge. In spite of that, Hatch said the vacancy rate in the units her company manages is the lowest it’s been in 10-15 years.

Sumner said he has not locked down the rental rates for the 19 upscale apartments he is developing at 215 and 217 Broad St.

“You look at what rents are currently available on Broad Street and you look at the occupancy rate, which is currently close to 100 percent — and at times is 100 percent,” Sumner said. “We know there is a need. We recognize that the build-outs we will be doing are slightly higher, perhaps, than what is currently available.”

Twelve apartments will go in the two-story building at 215 Broad, including the only six with ground-floor frontage on Broad. Seven apartments are being built on the second and third floors of 217 Broad St.

Sumner is seeking historic tax credits, which will help offset the development costs and enable him to keep the rent in a range comparable with the West Lofts on Second Avenue at Broad.

Ira Levy has been involved in several projects downtown, including Forrest Place and the Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham hotel. He’s received approval to put seven upscale apartments in the building at 527-529 Broad St., which once housed the Atlanta Gas Light offices.

Levy said the rent for his new apartments would range from a low $800 to a high of $1,650 a month. His target renters are young professionals and empty nesters.

He also said he has not abandoned old plans to build apartments on a lot at Third Avenue and Broad Street, which he is temporarily allowing the Downtown Development Authority to use for parking.

The property, which Levy has patterned after an old hotel that once existed on the parcel, would offer 26 units.

He put that project on hold after the Historic Preservation Commission denied his request to put balconies overlooking Broad Street on the upper story apartments .

“It’s a viable thing. I’ve just got to quit doing other projects and get that thing going,” Levy said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Rome News

The post With few vacancies in downtown Rome, apartment life is growing in popularity appeared first on My Web Pal.

from My Web Pal http://ift.tt/1OwMYAs

via http://ift.tt/16tBHl4