How is Apartment Development Being Impacted?

Joe Rubina wrote a great article in The Denver Post on how apartment developers are feeling, thinking and acting in light of Covid. Joe wrote, "There is one common thread among developers and market analysts with their eyes on Denver, though: While what residents want in apartment homes may shift because of the pandemic, they agree the Mile High City is going to remain a place where people want to live. Therefore, more apartments will be needed."

Sam Kasparek, managing partner of Kairoi Residential says "they are still incredibly bullish on Denver in the long-term." Teo Nicolais, a RE Instructor at the Harvard Extension School in Denver said that residential development in Denver has NOT yet shown signs of a big slowdown.

Apartment Insights says there are 22k apartments currently being built in the Denver area. This is 25% lower than it was in 2017 and the pandemic has caused construction delays that will stretch out the completion of these apartments from 2-3 years to even longer. Whereas, developers completed 13k new apartments in both 2017 and 2018, I wouldn't be surprised to see just 6,000 or 7,000 new apartments completed this year and next year. Thus, rental rates will probably "firm up" after an expected drop in the second quarter and possibly the third quarter too.

How are developers construction plans changing? The X Company who is building new apartments in the neighborhood behind Coors Field is still building 250 new apartments with about a third of them featuring co-living spaces such as kitchens and living rooms; but separate bedrooms and bathrooms. Rents for these apartments will start at around $1,000 a month.

Teo Nicolais said he has spoken to several different developments and they are now looking at retooling buildings to offer more dedicated home office options which makes perfect sense.