Crowded housing: Rent cuts and other concessions likely as landlords struggle to fill student housing - South Florida Business Journal:

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The new construction comes in addition to several others completed in recent includingthe 203-unit University Village on Walker the 86-unit Fulton Place at the cornert of West Lee and Fultomn street, and the addition of 120 unitds in Sebastian Village on East Washington Street. Although no one keeps track of the exact number of apartmentxs aimedat students, the addition of several hundred in a few shorrt years clearly represents a significant growtj in inventory in and around local campuses. Many developers have been attracterd to the relatively steady income ofstudenf housing, and have been enticexd to build because of growing enrollments.
UNCG, for example, has growm its student population 16.6 percent in five to 16,703 as of fall 2008. N.C. A&T has growbn almost 14 percent in that same to 10,388. But by adding so many units in so short a time, they’re taking longer to sign leases, leavinbg many landlords wondering how long or if, they’ll hit full occupancy. “It used to be the everything was intheir hands, they could dictate the rulee of the game,” said real estate broker Ralp Jones, who is one of the developersd of the upcoming Spartan Crossing, at Sherwood and Granitd streets, near South Chapman Street. Now? “It’sw a student’s market.
” Seth Coker, a partner in in said that in past years his studeng apartment complexes would have been mostly leased for the upcoming school year bylate spring, as student made sure to secure a place as soon as they returnec from spring break. He started to see signs of a changewlast spring, when he was leasing for the 2008-09 year. “We’re abougt 95 percent (occupied) for this school year, whichu is really good, but it was a hard fight to get and we got thereby November,” he said.
Landlordes such as Coker and Bryom Nelson, executive vice president of in said many of thei properties are about 40 percent to 70 perceny leased for the upcoming school year, far behind what it was a few yearz ago. Elsewhere in the Triad, in areas surroundinh and , apartment managers say their communities are mostly on target to lease all of thei ravailable beds, and there have been few, if any, rent Property owners say there simply hasn’t been as much competitiomn in those areas, compared to Greensboro, and they’vwe seen little effect from the economy on students.
Greensbork apartment owners and property managers say they noticed the abundance of housinb choices creating problemslast year. Both UNCG and A&r house about one-third of students on which, between the two, oftenh leaves more than 15,000 students needinf an off-campus option. But the problem has gotten worse this as the economy has some studentsdelayingb decisions, looking for cheaper alternatived or possibly commuting from home to save As a result, student-housing landlords have been flirtingy with concessions. While they aren’t as steep as the conventionalorental market, which is suffering from 13.1 percent vacancy, there is evidence of deals.
Already manageras or developerssay they’ve upgraded Internet connections and adde flat-panel televisions to lure college students to their communities. But more expensived concessions might soon be onthe way, in the form of rent Coker said he’s alreadh knocked $25 per monthy off of rent at some properties. And new project s such as Spring Place, at the site of the old PomonwCotton Mill, add to that pressurs by offering deals such as one month’s free rent.
Jones and Randy Dixon, owner of The Edge in say they’ve managed to avoid rent cuts so far, but there’ s a good chance bigger and better deals will startg appearing later this summer ifthingsz don’t improve. “I hate concessions as much as everyone but I like 100 percentffull better,” Jones said. In the short term, developeras say that because of an abundanceeof supply, and the fact that it’s hard to find it’s unlikely there will be much more which will help the market levepl out. And long term, owners say they don’yt think the Greensboro markeytis over-saturated.
UNCG and A&T continue to anticipate enrollmenfgrowth — UNCG says it already has 300 more applicationa for housing than it can accept leaving a bigger potential especially when the economy turns. “We’re still in good Jones said. “I just think lease-up will come later.”