Related: No Fear of Multifamily Overbuilding

MIAMI—Related Development is building six new multifamily rental projects in Florida—and owns or controls another six multifamily projects in various stages of permitting. The first to debut is Pierhouse, a 356-unit development in the Channelside District in Tampa.

“It was important that we secured the best sites early, particularly in Southeast Florida where the most production will occur first,” Steve Patterson, president and CEO of Related Development, tells GlobeSt.com. “This comes on the tails of virtually zero new market rate rentals for the last five years and in the face of record-setting demand levels.”

Patterson says the aggressive multifamily development pace is in response to the maturing of the Echo Boomers, the estimated 65 million children of the Baby Boomers, 15 to 29. Echo Boomers outnumber the previous Baby Bust generation aged 30 to 44. This demographic enters the housing market at a time when mortgage loans remain scarce, further contributing to demand for rentals.

Altogether, Related's multifamily development pipeline totals nearly 4,000 apartments and is now a leading producer of market-rate rentals in Florida. The company has been looking out of state and will soon announce its first project in Atlanta. When asked if he was concerned about overbuilding in the South Florida region considering the projected pipeline, Patterson says, “Some submarkets may see some softness but we expect this to be temporary.”

Related's multifamily projects already under construction include Pierhouse; The Manor is a six-story multifamily development with 181 units wrapping a garage and 16 town homes in Plantation; Doral View Apartments is a 360-unit multifamily development in Fontainebleau, Florida, a suburb 15 minutes from Downtown Miami; New River Yacht Club features 249 luxurious riverfront multifamily units next to the New River in Downtown Ft. Lauderdale, Flagler Village Apartments in Fort Lauderdale; and Park Square is located on Doral Boulevard across from the Doral Resort and Country Club, which includes 398 contemporary style flats with extensive amenities.  

Upcoming multifamily developments include Atlantech Apartments in Fort Lauderdale; Delray Beach Apartments in Downtown Delray Beach; Davie University in Davienear Sterling Road and Pembroke City Center in Pembroke Pines and second phases to Doral View and CityPlace Doral.

Will all of these—and the other multifamily developments scheduled for Florida—pan out in the end? Perhaps not. “We are seeing some buyers fall out of contracts on development land acquisitions due to lack of equity capital,” Patterson says. “The equity is looking for only the bets locations with the strongest positions.”