Jeffrey Lee 

Apartment development is back—at least for one large apartment REIT. AvalonBay expects to start $500 million in new construction in 2010, according to Bryce Blair, CEO for the Arlington, Va.-based REIT.

According to statistics from Realty DataTrust’s VaultWare, which automatically posts users’ rent rates to multiple listing sites, 43 percent of communities as of April 22 are promoting a special offer, ranging from the waiving of application fees or security deposits to a month of free rent (the most popular special). The figure is down from 47 percent in January. Does that indicate that communities are beginning to cut back on concessions? I’ve heard anecdotally that that shift is certainly taking place in some markets, such as Austin. ARA’s Q1 U.S. Market Report found that effective rents have now begun to rise in 1/3 of the group’s 29 surveyed markets—likely an indicator that concessions are beginning to recede.

I have to admit: I was a little grossed out at first by the idea of saltwater pools. I envisioned a pool filled with murky, unpleasant-tasting seawater. Who’d want to swim in that? But with so many people talking about trendy saltwater pools, I knew that couldn’t be the whole story, and indeed, Resource Residential President and CEO Harlan Krichman set me straight.

Do review Web sites give business owners enough say? The subject popped up again on my radar screen when I saw a story about a California veterinary center suing review site Yelp “for allegedly promising to bury bad reviews in exchange for purchasing $3,600 worth of advertising on the site.”

It can be tough to justify costly apartment renovations at a time when most renters are looking to save money, not splurge on new amenities. But that doesn't mean apartment providers must abandon renovations entirely. Multifamily REIT UDR, for instance, has been outfitting some of its apartments with new kitchen appliance packages, which start as low as $1,100.

Retaining residents is a top priority for apartment operators, no matter the time of year or state of the economy. But with falling rent rates, rising concessions and even the extended homebuyers’ tax credit tempting residents to pack their bags for a better deal at the end of their leases, savvy apartment management firms are honing their retention strategies.

Even though Meredith Ginter lives on the sixth floor of a high-rise, she’s only steps from her parking space. Ginter’s unique situation is the result of an uncommon parking arrangement at her Charlotte apartment community, the 310-unit Ashton South End. The building’s parking garage extends six and a half stories high from the basement level and includes secured-access, double-glass-door entrances on each of the first six floors.

Do you ever get the feeling that the financial news is coming to you in a different language? Alex Blumberg and Adam Davidson of NPR’s Planet Money recently had a clever take on 2009’s financial news. As Blumberg points out in the story, when a big bank or real estate company borrows millions or billions of dollars, we don’t call it borrowing money. We call it accessing credit or liquidity. But no matter what terms they used, REIT executives and real estate investors this year were really saying one simple thing: No one will lend us money.

Federal bank regulators announced late last month new guidelines designed to provide flexibility for banks to extend or refinance commercial real estate loans rather than foreclose on them. The guidelines are “very positive” for apartment borrowers, including those with construction loans, making it easier for borrowers to refinance or secure extensions on maturing loans even if the value of the property has fallen below the loan amount, says Marc Ross, President, San Antonio, Texas-based Bob Ross Realty.

A property manager speaks out against an apartment ratings site, saying the fee model encourages nasty comments that can damage managers’ reputations.

Although it’s already nearly November, I learned this week that October is National Crime Prevention Month. After reading an article that we are publishing in the November issue of UNITS magazine that brings crime prevention to the forefront, I realized it’s a subject apartment managers may need to think about year-round.

In July’s Dipping a Toe in the Securitization Pool, I covered a new program from Freddie Mac designed to bring liquidity and more affordable credit to apartment borrowers. Real estate attorney Timothy L. Gustin discussed the legal issues involved in securing the two types of Freddie Mac financing in an article entitled “The Return of Securitized Lending: Freddie Mac Launches CMBS Loan Product” in the Minnesota Real Estate Journal.

Distressed assets are a hot topic among real estate investors, with many funds pooling their capital to snap up value-priced properties from reluctant bank owners or borrowers unable to refinance their loans. But while investors may find a couple of deals on the market, they will most likely be frustrated if they’re expecting a flood of assets for sale at cut-rate prices.

I had the opportunity to attend the Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington (AOBA)’s 2009 Green Conference this week, and the event reinforced a belief I’ve held for quite a while. The buzz and fashionable allure of “Green” is fading. But what remains are pragmatic solutions to environmental problems that can benefit any company’s bottom line—including those in the apartment industry.

If you’re a frequent consumer of apartment-related news, you may remember reading an MSNBC story earlier this year about the Bethany Group, a real estate management and investment firm. In a high-profile meltdown, the company went into receivership amidst renter complaints of neglect at more than a dozen apartment communities in the Phoenix area and across the country.

A couple of new programs created through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are providing sorely needed federal stimulus funding to jump-start stalled affordable apartment communities.

Apartment Guide released a list of the highest ranking apartment features and community amenities that consumers searched for on ApartmentGuide.com from February 2009 to August 2009.

The first day of classes at many schools is only a week or two away, but the outcome of the 2009-2010 leasing season is still in question as many students put off their decision until the last minute, leaving some student housing owners and managers waiting until September to see if they will match last year’s performance.

Discriminatory apartment advertisements are prolific on Internet classified ad sites such as Craigslist because those sites are not held to the same legal standard as newspapers, according to an August 11 report from the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA).

UDR’s second quarter earning conference call Tuesday provided an enlightening look at the company’s use of technology to boost occupancy and reduce expenses.

While apartment owners trying to dispose of properties purchased at the peak of the market may be feeling indigestion from all the red ink, investors with cash are licking their chops at the number of apartment communities available for purchase at sizable discounts.

Chicago-based multifamily real estate company AMLI Residential closed a deal this month to sell the 592-unit AMLI at Chevy Chase apartment community for $60 million, one of the largest deals in the country so far this year. What’s your take on this transaction? Is it a sign of bigger deals to come, or just an outlier?

The benefits of energy efficiency sound great. But when I think about how such improvements apply to the apartment industry, I keep returning to the same problem. It’s the owner who pays to make an apartment more efficient, but it’s the resident who gets all the financial benefits. One Sustainability Coordinator is experimenting with a new lease structure that could address that problem.

While the economic downturn is forcing owners of distressed or underperforming apartment communities to make difficult decisions about whether to hold onto the keys or cut and run, the down market also is creating opportunities for aggressive investors to make attractive deals with motivated sellers and reluctant owners. Nashville-based Freeman Webb Investments and Bill Freeman, co-Founder of Freeman Webb Companies, found just such a deal in June.

Enrollment numbers this fall should reveal whether student housing is truly recession-resistant. What's your prediction? How will student housing fare this fall? After the jump, Kevin Larimer, Director of Student Housing for multifamily housing advisory and research firm Hendricks & Partners, provides his take.

When treating bed bugs, pest management companies typically offer a standardized, multi-step treatment protocol. But even if the pest company currently being used is independently owned, don’t assume they can’t do the job, says Paul Bello, entomologist and consultant to the pest management and other industries. Bello share nine questions to ask your pest management contractor about their bed bug treatment.

A Community Meth Summit in Tulsa, Okla., earlier this year drew attention to a dangerous new method of creating methamphetamine or “crystal meth” and the need for education and awareness among property owners and managers.

After the jump, Archstone’s Group Vice President of Strategic Systems, Donald Davidoff, and Search Engine Optimization’s Vice President of Business Development, Krish Coughran, provide some general principles for marketers hoping to improve a Web site’s rank in search engine results. What are some of the strategies your company is using?

Some apartment marketers say Craigslist has grown to one of their top sources of traffic, especially in urban areas. At Archstone, Craigslist has grown in recent years from being the source of 2 percent of its leads to 10 percent, according to Don Davidoff, the company’s Group Vice President, Strategic Systems. But he urges companies to exercise caution when using Craigslist.

Apartment sales in April were the highest of the year, but the $900 million in volume is still low by any measure, according to a report from research firm Real Capital Analytics [www.rcanalytics.com]. Year-to-date, apartment volume totals $2.8 billion for a monthly average of $700 million.