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EIG Aims To Convert Shuttered Ramada Inn In Hialeah To Apartments

Author: Admin
Categories: Commercial News,Development,Multifamily

The Estate Investments Group filed plans to convert a shuttered Ramada Inn in Hialeah, located at 1950 W. 49th St., into apartments, and construct a pair of commercial buildings.

The 4.9-acre site currently has a four-story, 258-room hotel that was built in 1970.

1950 Hialeah Holdings LLC, an affiliate of Miami-based EIG, acquired the property for $15.25 million in August. The hotel was closed at the time of the deal.

The developer is seeking a special use permit to convert the hotel building into apartments through adaptive reuse. It would have 251 apartments, with 90% studios ranging from 340 to 599 square feet, and the other 10% one-bedroom units starting at 600 square feet.

 

Source:  SFBJ

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Luxury Miami Condo Association Sues Airbnb

Author: Admin
Categories: Commercial News,Multifamily,Trends

The condominium association of a luxury tower in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood has filed a civil lawsuit against Airbnb, and several additional lawsuits against Airbnb hosts, over short-term rentals at the property.

Transient renters have led to problems including a shootout in an elevator and increased costs for security, maintenance and insurance, the condo association alleges.

“Airbnb has misappropriated the condominium property and turned it into its own de facto, unlicensed hotel,” according to the complaint, filed by Opera Tower Condominium Association Inc. in Miami-Dade Circuit Court Aug. 24.

Separately, Airbnb last week began cracking down on Florida properties used to host parties. More than 40 listings across 12 counties that received complaints or otherwise violated company policies were suspended from the platform.

The Opera Tower is a 665-unit condo that opened in 2008. While rentals are not expressly prohibited by condo rules, residents are supposed to be screened and registered by the association and present leases during that process. Additionally, short-term rentals in that part of Downtown Miami are prohibited by zoning laws.

The complaint alleges that about 450 units at Opera Tower are used by full-time residents while the others are used for short-term rentals. As those proliferated, common areas have gotten crowded and waits for the elevators in the 56-story building can stretch for 15 minutes. The property’s condo association hired a person to deal with related headaches and has had to spend an additional $200K on janitorial services, plus an annual $560K on security, it said in the complaint.

Over the past three years, there have been 397 9-1-1 calls, and alleged crimes by transient users have included robberies, assaults and at least one rape allegation. In June, two dueling gunmen shot up an elevator and third-floor lobby.

In 2018, the condo association’s insurance company dropped the policy because of the short-term rentals — a new policy with a different company cost $93K more, the complaint says. On Aug. 6, the city issued a cease-and-desist letter to the condo over short-term rentals and said it is subject to an ongoing investigation by code enforcement because it is not zoned for lodging.

“Quite brazenly, Aibnb makes no effort to either verify the legality of accommodations or even to remove listings once it has been informed that its listings may be illegal,” attorneys for the association wrote in the complaint. “Airbnb’s business model calls for it to continue riding the gravy train of booking fees from illegal listings and dare affected property owners to sue it.”

The lawsuit accuses Airbnb of aiding and abetting breaches of the condo declaration, aiding and abetting trespass and violating Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The condo association filed separate lawsuits against Airbnb hosts in Opera Tower including Happy Travels Miami LLC and Suarez Group Hotels Corp.

Separately, on Aug. 20, as COVID-19 continued to spread throughout the world, Airbnb announced a global ban on all parties and events at Airbnb listings and a cap on occupancy at 16. The party ban remains in effect until further notice. Airbnb has also restricted rentals for people younger than 25 — they can’t rent near where they live unless they have at least three positive reviews.

The city’s investigation of Opera Tower and the subsequent lawsuits come after a Miami TV station, WSVN, this summer explored how “pandemic parties” were proliferating in South Florida as bars and restaurants closed and nightlife moved to private parties. It quoted Opera Tower residents saying that they felt unsafe there, and found that pornography was filmed on one of the condo’s balconies.

Airbnb Manager of Public Policy in Florida Viviana Jordan said in a statement that the company supports local officials stopping irresponsible behavior at host properties and that the company has set up a hotline to field complaints.

Airbnb said in a statement that only a “small minority” of hosts would be affected by its Florida crackdown and that these hosts had previously received warnings.

“The vast majority of hosts in Florida contribute positively to their neighborhoods and economy, and they also take important steps to prevent unauthorized parties — like establishing clear house rules, quiet hours, and communicating in advance with their guests,” Jordan said.

Airbnb’s Florida crackdown affected properties Alachua, Broward, Duval, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Okaloosa, Orange, Palm Beach, St. Johns and Walton counties. The company has previously led crackdowns in specific geographic areas. In August, it removed 50 listings in Los Angeles County and another 50 in Arizona.

Aibnb has reportedly lost $1B since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Nevertheless, amid these challenges, last month Airbnb filed paperwork to become a publicly traded company.

Source:  Bisnow

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How The Pandemic Has Changed Apartment Building Amenities

Author: Admin
Categories: Commercial News,Development,Multifamily,Trends

While slow to embrace major changes — some developers say they’re hopeful that pandemics will not be a concern when their projects finally open in 2023 — developers are making tweaks in the face of the COVID era.

They’re adding cabana-lined roof decks, repurposing lounges as outdoor schools and switching out built-in couches for more movable versions to facilitate social distancing, as well as adding ventilation systems that are deluxe even by the standards of luxury apartments.

“We haven’t had drastic changes,” said Whitney Kraus, the director of architecture and planning for Brown Harris Stevens Development Marketing, but added, “I don’t think amenities will ever go back to the way they were before.”

Some upgrades will likely appeal whether a disease is rampaging or not.

Click here to read more about this story.

 

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Is The Pandemic Priming Neighborhoods For A New Wave Of Gentrification?

Author: Admin
Categories: Allapattah,Aventura,Commercial News,Development,Leasing,Miami Beach,Multifamily,Wynwood

Last year, we might have viewed gentrification as one of the worst aggravators of the housing market. We did not expect a pandemic. We’ve spent months indoors, lost work or transitioned to telecommuting, and watched once-bustling streets go silent; and as the coronavirus persists, more and more people have fled cities to hunker down in rural locations.

The question of gentrification still looms, and in deciphering what this exodus means for the future of housing, some have looked to the phenomenon of disaster gentrification in particular.

“When [people] talk about disaster gentrification, they’re referring to instances where a community was hit by a disaster that caused, at a minimum, temporary displacement,” says Lance Freeman, a professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, and a leading researcher on gentrification. “In the rebuilding process, the area was rebuilt for people from higher social economic status households,” preventing original tenants from moving back to their neighborhoods and uprooting communities.

New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is perhaps the best-known example of disaster gentrification—reported by CityLab: “Those neighborhoods with a higher percentage of physical building damage were more likely to have gentrified one decade after the storm”—but it has occurred in New York, Miami, and other cities that have experience major climatic disasters. With the pandemic now worldwide, it’s worth considering if the pattern will reappear, though for different reasons—namely, people forced out of their homes by financial hardship, and a migration from urban to rural areas.

For gentrification to occur, two things must happen. For one, “you have to have an area that has very low values on residential real estate, which involves disinvestment and [maybe] abandonment of certain areas,” says Bruce Mitchell, a senior analyst for the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC).

The second thing? Investment—or, as Freeman notes, a rebuilding of an area so that it effectively prices out the current residents in favor of higher-income renters and buyers.

Right now, the U.S. is currently in a recession, with  about 31 million people unemployed. With so much uncertainty around when the pandemic will end, people will continue to suffer economically, especially those who live in lower-income communities, which are disproportionately people of color, notes Freeman.

“If you look at the number of predominantly white communities and then at the number of communities of color, the disinvestment in the community of color will be more disproportionate than in the white neighborhood,” he adds. “In that sense, you can say they experience more gentrification because they’re disproportionately in the working-class, disinvested neighborhoods.”

 

According to the Center for American Progress, “Housing instability triggered by the coronavirus pandemic is a growing threat across the United States, especially in communities of color.”

It notes that where 9% of white homeowners missed or deferred a mortgage payment in May, 20% of Black homeowners did the same.

If people of color and low-income communities continue to suffer economically, will they be forced to abandon their homes for areas that are more affordable, causing an abandonment or disinvestment of a neighborhood? And will that prime a neighborhood for gentrification to occur? Perhaps so—especially when you consider how many people in these neighborhoods are renters.

“In the short term, it looks like there are going to be a lot of repercussions having to do with the current rental crisis and the inability of people to pay their rent because they simply don’t have the income,” says Mitchell. “[If] people can’t pay rent, then landlords—particularly small landlords—are not going to be able to meet their mortgages, perhaps.”

While Mitchell views the eviction and rental crisis as something that may cause an increase in temporary homelessness, others are concerned that city residents will voluntarily turn to small towns and rural places due to the rise in telecommuting, or be forced into these areas in search of more affordable living.

“The workplace has increasingly moved into people’s homes,” says Mitchell. “It could result in movement out of central cities to areas that are less expensive.”

Rural gentrification has occurred in the past. Freeman notes, “In the New York area, you had these smaller towns in Upstate New York along the Hudson River that many artists and other creative types moved to starting at the latter part of the last century. They were drawn to those areas because housing is cheaper, [and] it’s scenic.”

Though some may have sought rural areas at the beginning of the pandemic, Freeman doesn’t foresee Americans moving to rural areas en masse.

“As we’re seeing in many of these smaller communities, you’re still not immune or protected from the virus, necessarily,” he says. “I think in the short term, perhaps that’s happening. I’ve seen anecdotes about it, but I don’t think it’ll be a permanent trend.”

We’ve also heard these anecdotes and reports of New York City residents moving to Upstate New York, Connecticut, and Vermont, or Californians in cities like San Francisco heading to Montana. In April, Redfin’s CEO said demand for rural homes was higher than for urban homes, and in May, the company noted that Redfin page views of homes in towns with fewer than 50,000 residents were up 87% year over year. And yet, the company also found that 27% of users who were looking to move during the pandemic were focused on metros like Las Vegas and Sacramento.

Comparing these statistics to actual homebuyer behavior will take time. In the meantime, we should keep in mind that many reports of city dwellers migrating to rural areas have centered on residents of metropolises in California and New York; those anecdotes are not necessarily representative of the entire nation.

Shad Bogany, a realtor who serves on the board of directors for the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR), feels similarly to Freeman. While he notes that the real estate market dipped in April and May, Bogany says that people are currently buying and selling houses in droves. “We don’t have enough houses to sell,” he says.

For Bogany, there’s one reason that the market has remained strong, and it’s not that buyers are moving to areas they deem safer or cheaper—rather, “people are making decisions based on the low interest rates.”

 

Source:  Dwell

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14 Big Factors Driving CRE Trends This Year And Beyond

Author: Admin
Categories: Commercial News,Development,Healthcare,Leasing,Multifamily,Offices,Retail,Shopping Centers,Trends

The Covid-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented challenge for the real estate industry.

Commercial real estate professionals have had to navigate new obstacles like virtual showings, finding buyers during an economic downturn and perhaps most significantly, the shift away from centralized offices toward full-time remote work.

The current climate and circumstances will continue to impact real estate trends in the months and years to come, and if you’re in the industry, it’s important to be prepared for what’s ahead. To help, Forbes asked 14 members of Forbes Real Estate Council for their insights.

Below the members identified the biggest factors driving commercial real estate trends this year and beyond.

1. Utility Management For Remote Work

One factor is the ability of some companies to effectively and responsibly manage critical business initiatives while telecommuting. Companies are evaluating the health, safety and necessity of their employees working remotely versus maintaining the continuity of a central office location which may have redundant electrical power, data connectivity and other security measures necessary to maintain sales and operations. – Josh Gopan, Simone Development Companies

2. The Need For Office Space In The Home

While everyone has always needed a place to live, people’s homes now have added value. With many people shifting their workplaces from offices to their homes, their dwelling also has increased in importance. Conversely, this has had a detrimental effect on office space across the country. – Matt Picheny, MJP Property Group

3. Smart Amenities

The adoption of technology will drive smart amenities from the “nice-to-have” column to the “need-to-have” column as restrictions are put in place by local, regional and state governments. Adoption was already trending up pre-Covid-19, but should continue to see a strong increase over the next 12 to 24 months. – Marshall Friday, ADT Security Services

4. Newly Available Subleases

Large, established institutions, like Twitter, Facebook, etc. have put work from home requirements in place that are minimizing their physical space requirements. Combined with businesses negatively affected by Covid-19, there is a large volume of subleases hitting the market. Younger companies that are doing well are looking for flexible space and terms, so subleasing might be the top CRE trend. – Matt Weirich, Realync

5. Less Demand For Commercial Office Space

The outlook of office space is uncertain, but possibly very dark. Businesses had to adjust quickly to a virtual workforce. Many of those businesses will find that they can operate just as well without the overhead costs associated with owning or leasing a physical office. – Chris Bounds, reHacking / Bounds Realty Group by eXp Realty

6. Uncertainty Around Retail Business Operations

One of the key factors driving commercial real estate trends since Covid-19 is the uncertainty surrounding which type of businesses will be able to operate during the pandemic and how that drives the values of those assets. Businesses in strip malls, like nail salons and hair salons, have previously been immune from fluctuations in the economy, but are now at the peril of intermittent shutdowns. – Todd Sulzinger, Blue Elm Investments

7. Property Maintenance As A Priority

Covid-19 has pushed property maintenance to the forefront. Consumers are more concerned about disinfecting than ever, and well-maintained locations—including everything from sanitization to spotless floors and regular, visible cleaning to fresh landscaping—instill confidence. Facilities maintenance is an area companies will need to increase investment in as it becomes integral to brand experience. – Marc Shiffman, SMS Assist

8. High Demand For Essential Businesses

In the net lease world, investors are focusing on quality and stability, both for guarantor and real estate fundamentals. We’re seeing very high demand and capital being reallocated to essential businesses like grocery stores, dollar stores, auto parts and service centers, pharmacies, medical companies and quality guarantors in fast food. Stable cash flow with quality tenants paying rent wins in a high-risk market. – Kyle McCollum, Trinity Real Estate Investment Services

9. Short-Term Market Performance

Covid-19 prompted many investors to spend more time tracking short-term market performance. From an investment perspective, our strategy and analysis begins by evaluating which sectors experienced stability in the last 20 weeks. Multifamily, self-storage, healthcare, NNN retail and office performers are well-documented, however, we must consider how each asset will also perform in the long run. – Keith Lampi, Inland Private Capital Corporation

10. Increased Importance Of Rental Property Amenities

With many people sheltering in place, office properties are relatively empty and time spent at home has never been higher. This makes multifamily amenities increasingly important. The trend of renters seeking well-appointed properties is not new, but in the wake of Covid-19, the value of on-site dining options, co-working lounges, fitness centers and other amenities has never been greater. – Salvador Garcia, MAS Development Group

11. The Internet’s Impact On Land Value

Technology and digital connectivity have disrupted many industries and real estate is not immune. We have been forced to realize that such advances may alter our approach to land use and the built environment. There will be increasing discussion about the effect of the internet on the value of land generally, although we are in the very early stages. – Eliot Bencuya, Streitwise

12. Changes In How Office Space Will Be Used

When demand returns for office, the largest part of the workforce will be hybrid workers that come to the workplace two to three days a week. This is down from four to five days per week meaning a 20 to 30% decrease in demand for office, retail, hospitality, etc. This will dramatically shift how these assets are used and valued. We will see the productization of the office from a couple of products to several. – Jacob Bates, CommonGrounds Workplace

13. Industry Adaptability And Resilience

This trend is truly remarkable as it has shown how resilient the industry is. The market has made huge progress in creating work-from-home environments with management companies investment firms and doing the best they can through the use of many tech support programs. It’s been remarkable to see this trend take life while showing the industry stays strong (thanks to interest rates being low). – Heidi Burkhart, Dane Real Estate

14. Capital Reallocation

As we’ve seen in past downturns, there is a massive reallocation of capital for investment to commercial sectors deemed safer with cash flows that are perceived to be more durable. Look for pricing to tighten and competition to increase in multifamily, industrial, self-storage and medical sectors while loosening in retail, office and hospitality. – Max Comess, Hodges Ward Elliott, LLC.

 

Source: Forbes

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Robot Used To Kill Coronavirus In Hospitals Now Being Tested In Residential Buildings

Author: Admin
Categories: Commercial News,Healthcare,Multifamily

The Xenex LightStrike Xenon-Ray Robot is the world’s only proven Coronavirus-Killing UV light disinfection device, according to a just-released peer-review study published by the UK’s Cambridge University Press.

And now, LightStrike, which is used in hundreds of hospitals, is, for the first-time, being debuted and deployed in a Miami residential building.

According to the study, LightStrike is 99.99% effective at deactivating SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

No other UV ray device has been proven to kill the coronavirus.

LightStrike is not used on people or pets. It disinfects the air and an array of surfaces.

Miami is one of the most coronavirus-impacted cities in the U.S. It is also one of the world’s most-competitive and high-value real estate markets, where developers are vying to offer anti-COVID features.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has created demand for a new disease-conscious lifestyle,” says Paramount Miami Worldcenter’s CEO-Developer Daniel Kodsi. “Buyers and residents consider disinfecting technologies essential and we are the first to offer these features; providing security and peace of mind to our residents.”

LightStrike Technology

LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots are used in 650 healthcare facilities, worldwide. They include the Mayo Clinic, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Veterans Affairs hospitals from coast-to-coast.

“There are a lot of UV products on the market that make a lot of claims,” says Xenex (Zen-X) CEO Morris Miller. “LightStrike is the only robot that has been proven to kill SARS-CoV-2 and there are over 40-plus independent studies proving its efficacy.”

He emphasizes, “As an example, the robot was tested against SARS-CoV-2 at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, which is one of only 10 Bio Safety Level 4 Labs in North America. Scientists there concluded that LightStrike achieved a 99.99% level of disinfection during a two-minute treatment.”

LightStrike’s intense, pulsating bursts of xenon UV light are not only proven to destroy the virus that causes COVID-19; but its robotic disinfection system also deactivates C.diff, Ebola, MRSA, SARS and other viruses and pathogens, according to an array of studies published by major universities and hospitals.

Paramount Miami Worldcenter is the only residential tower currently to be chosen to evaluate the efficacy, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the LightStrike Robot, according to Xenex.

According to Kodsi, Phase One of the Paramount Miami Worldcenter LightStrike Robot evaluation focuses on the building’s public areas and a select number of its luxury high-rise homes.

He explains, “The primary public areas include the 5,700 SQF spa & fitness center and the building’s game room, kids’ playroom, indoor basketball and racquetball courts, elevators and restrooms.”

Phase Two disinfection will include high-rise homes.

About Xenex LightStrike

▪ Made-in-the-USA: San Antonio, Texas.

▪ Each LightStrike robot costs $125,000, which equates to a cost of approximately $100 per day over a 37-month period.

▪ Hospitals report disinfecting as many as 60-rooms per day with a single robot, which equates to a cost of about $3 per room.

▪ Robot emits bursts of brilliant, broad spectrum UV light that quickly destroys microscopic viruses and bacteria.

▪ Different pathogens are susceptible to UV light at different wavelengths.

▪ With broad spectrum UV light, LightStrike robots quickly deactivate viruses and bacteria by destroying their molecular structures and cell walls.

▪ Average-sized bedroom requires two, two-minute disinfection cycles (one on each side of bed) with additional two-minute treatment in the bathroom.

▪ LightStrike’s rays destroy micro-organisms on high-touch surfaces without causing damage to equipment, furniture, clothing and other items.

▪ Safely operated for more than 23 million cycles.

▪ No chemical residues or toxic fumes.

▪ LightStrike currently in-use at more than 650 healthcare facilities, food processing plants, and government buildings.

 

Source:  EIN Presswire

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There IS A Doctor In The House: Amenities Get Medical In The COVID-19 Era

Author: Admin
Categories: Commercial News,Development,Healthcare,Multifamily,Trends

Architectural Digest reports a new trend in amenities for multifamily residential buildings: on-site healthcare facilities or services that allow residents to receive medical testing or treatment at home. In this peri-pandemic era when home confinement is the prescription for avoiding infection and transmission of COVID-19, the appeal of having medical care come to you is undeniable.

As AD indicates, these new amenities go beyond the gyms, yoga studios, spas, and other ”wellness”-focused spaces found in many communities. While semi-private exercise spaces will likely be preferable to fully public ones for quite a long time to come, even those ‘safer’ options still require frequent disinfection, social distancing, and strict scheduling, and therefore may be less likely to provide the serenity—and therefore some of the health benefits—that they did prior to the pandemic.

For the next level of residential wellness offerings, developers are teaming up with providers of telemedicine, COVID testing, and concierge medical services to give their buildings and communities access to medical care from the comfort and isolation of one’s apartment.

The nexus for this boom in health-focused amenities, according to AD, is South Florida—which should surprise no one. The state has long been a mecca for older residents savoring their retirement years, making the population more likely to access healthcare in general. Additionally, the area is home to a sizable international community that may find concierge-style medical services easier to navigate than the traditional (and Byzantine) American healthcare system. It’s also a popular destination for medical tourism—and who wouldn’t want their elective surgery consultation (or even the procedure itself) conducted in the comfort and privacy of a residence?

On-demand medical concierge services were already available at the Ritz-Carlton Residences Miami Beach before COVID-19, reports AD, but their use has increased dramatically since the pandemic hit.

“It seemed like an added-value luxury perk and now it’s something they find essential,” a representative tells the outlet, referring to the development’s unit owners.

Jim Carr, co-founder of real estate development firm CC Homes, recognized the benefits of telemedicine even before the pandemic.

“If you have a routine illness or a checkup,” he tells AD, “you don’t want to tie up your day going to the doctor’s office.”

To that end, CC Homes now offers complimentary telemedicine to buyers of its units through a partnership with Baptist Health South Florida, a nonprofit clinical-care network with 10 hospitals and more than 100 outpatient centers throughout the region. Homeowners receive a one-year membership to Baptist Health Care on Demand, AD indicates, which includes unlimited virtual urgent-care visits along with an in-home TytoCare digital diagnostic device that transmits heart rate and temperature and allows doctors to examine patients’ skin, ears, and throat remotely.

Danny Elfenbein, director of digital and consumer solutions at Baptist Health, tells AD, “Developers have always looked at wellness—yoga classes, gyms, rooftop gardening—but actual healthcare hasn’t really been part of the mix before.”

Citing the TytoCare device as a “tipping point” toward a more formidable in-home healthcare trend, Elfenbein indicates that he is already hearing from other real estate companies interested in Baptist Health’s offerings for residents.

And this fall, as reported by Forbes, developer Royal Palm Companies will break ground on Legacy Hotel and Residences, a 50-story tower in downtown Miami with a full-service medical facility on the ground floor. Residents will have priority access to the $60 million, 100,000-square-foot Center for Health + Performance, which will include an onsite lab and pharmacy, elective surgical suites, diagnostic imaging capabilities, and a dedicated number of medically equipped hotel rooms for post-surgical patients, according to the outlet.

“When we set out to do this project we were contemplating… what’s not been done in hospitality,” says Royal Palm Companies’ chief executive officer Dan Kodsi.

After the coronavirus pandemic hit, he says the developers decided to apply the same design principles from the medical center to the hotel and residences, upgrading the ventilation systems and planning to include more voice-activated, touchless technology and UV light sanitation.

“Having a medical center has made people more enthusiastic,” he says of the post-pandemic response. “People take comfort in buying in a place that has these kinds of amenities. Health is the new wealth, we say.” 

The development is averaging four to five contracts a week, according to Forbes.

Not everyone agrees that this trend of in-home access to medical services is 100% beneficial. James Plumb, a doctor and co-director of the Jefferson Center for Urban Health, part of Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, indicates to WHYY that residents, as well as landlords and developers, should think carefully before diving head first into boutique or ad hoc health services. He cautions that these services don’t necessarily involve consulting a patient’s primary care physician or reviewing their medical history, which can lead to unintended negative health consequences.

“You try to maintain folks in a contained system so decisions can be made with background information on patients,” he tells the network. 

Plumb also points out the redundancy of telemedicine as a housing amenity or perk, indicating that most major U.S. health systems, including Jefferson, have robust telehealth offerings already. A service like Health+ might not be filling any gaps, in that case; moreover, “[It] might be potentially harmful for continuity of care,” Plumb concludes.

Like with most trends, the popularity of healthcare amenities in residential buildings might only last until the next big thing comes along. Or until the development and worldwide administration of an effective coronavirus vaccine.

 

Source:  The Cooperator

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Prices Rise For Apartments With This Must-Have Feature

Author: Admin
Categories: Commercial News,Multifamily,Trends

There is always a list of must-have priorities for buyers and renters — and they’re willing to pay more for it.

Even in a market partially paralyzed by the pandemic, places with this amenity are getting more looks than those without. Searches for New York City rentals with it are up 270% since before the pandemic started, according to real estate website StreetEasy.

“The number one thing that people are asking for is private outdoor space,” said Cindy Scholz, a real estate adviser at Compass Inc. in New York. “Particularly in rentals, where we have a huge inventory supply right now, the stuff that’s actually moving at a reasonable pace has private outdoor space.”

In New York City, where early coronavirus lockdowns kept residents inside cramped apartments for months, apartments with terraces in Manhattan are selling for 5.4% more per square foot than those sold this year before the pandemic lockdown, according to data from appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. That’s compared with a 1.1% drop in price per square foot for co-ops and condos without terraces.

While rents for apartments without outdoor space in New York have fallen 6%, they’ve only fallen 3% for those listed as having some outdoor space, according to Shane Lee, data scientist at RentHop, an apartment rental website.

In Brooklyn and Manhattan, renters are paying 33% more for two-bedroom apartments with outdoor space, compared with apartments without, according to RentHop. For example, the median two-bed with outdoor space rents for $4,728 in Manhattan, compared with $3,550 for similar apartments without the outdoor space.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, landlords are able to get up to $300 more per month for apartments with outdoor space compared with last year, while prices in the rest of the market haven’t changed significantly since the pandemic started, Lee said.

Ashish Thakkar, a pulmonologist and critical care specialist, has spent months treating Covid-19 patients as he splits his time between Manhattan and Kentucky. In July, he put down a deposit on an alcove studio with a private balcony in New York’s Financial District, knowing that the virus and lockdowns weren’t going away.

With all the uncertainty in the economy, he figured he’d be able to negotiate the price down, but the seller wouldn’t budge as much as he hoped. Still, he went ahead, knowing that he’ll have a place to enjoy, even if he needs to quarantine.

“It’s this novelty of being able to go out at the end of a long day and be on your own balcony, and still be socially distant but still be able to be outside and partake in a little bit of the magic that makes up New York,” Thakkar, 35, said. “It’s the best of both worlds. It makes quarantine that much more bearable.”

Renter interest in New York City has shifted from Manhattan to neighborhoods in outer boroughs including Ocean Hill in Brooklyn and Ditmars in Queens, partially due to the fact that outdoor space is more common outside of Manhattan, Lee said.

Prospective renters and buyers have been especially nit-picky about the types of outdoor space being listed. While landlords might classify a tiny balcony or fire escape as outdoor space, people are really looking for areas that can double as living spaces and are accessible from the same level as the rest of the apartment, Scholz said.

“People are very sensitive now to their environments because it’s going to double as their office,” Scholz said.

 

Source:  NREI

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Miami Beach Approves Co-Working, Co-Living Project

Author: Admin
Categories: Commercial News,Development,Miami Beach,Multifamily,Offices,Retail

Miami Beach officials approved URBIN, a coworking, co-living project that includes wellness and a hotel.

URBIN Miami Beach Partners‘ project was approved for 62,000 square feet of development, including four floors of coworking with 139 desks, 49 co-living units, 56 hotel rooms, and a 4,000-square-foot wellness center at 1234 and 1260 Washington Ave. There would be a garden and lounge on the roof. The project would include a small retail space.

The developer, Rishi Kapoor, would demolish a retail building on the property and renovate an office building. The new building would rise six stories.

 

Source:  SFBJ

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August Brings No Sign Of Rent Apocalypse

Author: Admin
Categories: Commercial News,Multifamily,Trends

Tenants across the country are largely still paying rent despite high unemployment and waning government aid, a new report found.

About 87 percent of apartment households made a full or partial rent payment by Aug. 13, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council’s Rent Payment Tracker. That was only a 2-point drop from the same period a year ago, when the economy was humming.

NMHC surveys 11.4 million units of professionally managed apartment units across the country.

Doug Bibby, the organization’s president, said the rent collections could decline, however, as relief through the CARES Act dries up. The federal unemployment benefit of $600 a week expired in the last week of July, and job growth is not likely to make up the difference.

“With that support now having expired more than two weeks ago, households across the country are grappling with even greater financial distress,” Bibby said in a statement.

Unemployment is steadily declining across the U.S. In July, the U.S. unemployment rate was 10.2 percent, down from its peak of 14.7 percent in April. Still, the U.S. has lost about 13 million jobs since the coronavirus gained a foothold in February, according to the Department of Labor.

For the unemployed, the next few weeks, or months, could be tough. Democrats and Republicans have failed to compromise on a new stimulus package, which was expected to extend the unemployment bonus, albeit at a diminished level, and perhaps include another round of $1,200 stimulus checks.

In addition, eviction moratoriums are also set to expire in many states, and some landlords are eager to move out tenants who have not paid rent for months.

 

 

Source:  The Real Deal

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