Airbnb, the concept of short-term rentals continues to be a polarizing topic in the apartment industry.

Jaja Jackson, Head of Multifamily Housing Partnerships for Airbnb, has spoken to several industry groups in the past year about his company’s potential offering to apartment owners. As recently as November, he spoke of a working relationship building between the company and apartment owners, one that could launch by the end of Q1 2016.

In May, however, during the 2016 AIM Conference, he suggested that creating a solidified, amicable “home-sharing” situation for Airbnb, owners, residents and local governments would not occur until at least 2018.

“In 24 to 36 months, we’re going to find ourselves in a place where most property management teams and ownership groups — especially the progressive ones — have thought through this and come to a conclusion as to whether they should offer this as an amenity.

“My projection is that 50 percent of groups will think it’s a great idea and 50 percent might say, ‘It’s not for us’ or, ‘It’s not for this particular community.’”
— Staff reports; Linnell Taylor Marketing contributed to this article.