Random, But Interesting: What We Heard at NMHC's Annual Meeting

The National Multifamily Housing Council’s annual meeting and Apartment Strategies Conference this week in Orlando addressed a full range of key industry topics on operations, rent growth, markets, technology, the economy and resident preferences. 

Following are a few random, but interesting, comments apartment executives made during the variety of panels.

• Julie Smith, Chief Administrative Officer, Bozzuto, said she recently visited a Chicago property that had three 8-foot-long tables set up in its lobby that were dedicated just to food deliveries. She also said communities could benefit from faster elevators. “Who wants fries that came with their Door Dash delivery to be cold once they get back to their apartment.”
• Steve Bancroft, Senior Managing Director of Multifamily at Trammell Crow Residential, spoke of a high-rise community that dedicated its entire sixth floor to accommodate residents’ pets, with indoor and outdoor areas for dogs and their owners.
• Jay Parsons, Deputy Chief Economist and Vice President of Asset Optimization and Renter Engagement, RealPage, “Affordability is one of more over-rated threats to the apartment industry. We’re seeing income growth for incoming renters’ up 12 percent, YoY, into the $70,000+ range. Laurie Baker, COO, Camden, said in the past year her residents’ average income rose from about $100,000 to $106,000.
• Matt Bearden, Vice President, Construction, at Gables Residential, said his company is not focusing on converting thinks such as office buildings into apartment buildings. “Right now, there are enough construction challenges in the process. We’re facing so many unknowns as it is [with new development]. We don’t need more.”
• Margette Hepfner, COO, Residential, Lincoln Property Company, said that renters are wanting places where they can plug in and work in the community, including the common areas. “We’ve dedicated space for that, trying to create areas like you see in a Starbuck’s where people are sitting near each other, but aren’t speaking to one another. Our focus for these is to be functional while creating nice aesthetics.”
• Hepfner added, “We’re not our renters. So, what we think doesn’t matter that much. You need to ask your renters what interests them. For example, we’ve included a podcast/music recording studio in one of our communities for our residents.”
• Nearly half of residents in the NMHC/Grace Hill annual Renter Preferences Survey residents expressed interest in having a rental living membership where they paid rent, but were free to move about to other communities in the portfolio in other markets – not unlike a vacation club. Hepfner said, “Maybe this could be tied to loyalty points in some way. It might not be something I’d want, but if they are saying this, the biggest mistake would be to simply dismiss it.”
• Veritas CEO Yat-Pang said, “We’re seeing renters return to San Francisco not necessarily because their offices are opening, but rather because the downtown bars and restaurants [and other social locations] are beginning to re-open.”
• Sound-proofing scored very high among residents in the NMHC/Grace Hill annual Renter Preferences Survey. Yet, when the audience was asked how many have sound-proof units, no hands were raised. “This would cost more money to develop, but maybe this is a benefit we could promote that would keep residents living at our communities longer,” Hepfner said.
• Residents continue to rate “controlled access” as high on their priority list. Pang said “marrying the controlled access function to his community app is driving more action to the app – like 100 percent adoption.”
• John Sebree, Senior Vice President/National Director, Multi Housing Division, said, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) “is coming at us like a tsunami” and Bob Garechana, Executive Vice President & Chief Finance Officer, Equity, said, “No longer is ESG becoming crucial, it is crucial. It’s baked into everything we do; it’s table stakes.”