AMF Development Dishes Multifamily Strategy

MIAMI—During the last 10 years alone, AMF Development has completed over half a billion projects with clients including Legacy Partners, Pulte, Standard Pacific Homes, and Lennar Homes. So who better to ask about the state of the multifamily development market?

We caught up with Alan Dibartolomeo, chief development officer at AMF, the development arm of American Multifamily, to get his take on how the multifamily market is recovering. He talked about the opportunities he sees in 2013, what's fueling those opportunities, and what areas the firm is focusing on.

GlobeSt.com: What are the biggest opportunities do you see in 2013?

Dibartolomeo: We see the biggest opportunity in providing well-located, attainably-priced housing at or near the job-creating centers in large metro areas.

GlobeSt.com: What factors are fueling those opportunities?

Dibartolomeo:The high-tech, high-education level, and highly exportable products from areas like New York's financial district, California's Silicon Valley, Raleigh's Research Triangle, or Hollywood's media center are fueling the recovery. But new housing in most of these areas stalled for several years. So the job creation is increasing demand for housing—we believe mostly for-rent housing—where barriers to entry for housing developers ultimately yields product that is expensive or located a reasonable commuting distance from the job source.

GlobeSt.com: In what areas is your firm focusing its energies and why?

Dibartolomeo: Our company looks specifically at the needs of the younger workers—the Gen-Y population—coming from college, roommating or even their parents' homes, who will be seeing more employment opportunity this year than in the last three to four years.  

Our studies indicate they want to relocate to be job and amenity-close, and avoid commuting.  Our Young Urban Communities introduces micro-apartment units in the job centers, in locations where they want to live, at affordable prices because of the efficiency of a small footprint. We are focused on MSA areas where promising job growth is anticipated.