Low interest rates and strong demographic trends are two of the causes of what is slowly but surely becoming the greatest environment in which to invest in multifamily housing for around a century, according to Albert M Berriz, the chief executive officer of McKinley Properties.
Berriz made the comments at a luncheon held by Commercial Real Estate Women Tampa Bay on Tuesday at the Embassy Suites in Tampa. “Check the math,” he says. “Check the psychology. This is the most robust time to invest in the history of the country.”
McKinley, which is based in Ann Arbor in Michigan, owns over 30,000 apartment units across 14 states. Around 40% of the assets that belong to the firm are based in the Interstate 4 corridor in Florida, including 23 properties in Hillsborough County and seven communities situated in Pinellas Country.
Berriz made comments that served to indicate that the firm is very close to being able to conclude deals on a number of other properties, which are also located in Tampa Bay, by the close of this year. Attractive investment returns and apparent development in the 1-4 corridor is set to continue, being fuelled by both job growth and by the increasing expansion of the population in general. “It’s 132 miles of solid opportunity,” says Berriz.
Berriz is also predicting that rents in the area will have doubled by the time the year 2020 comes along. A large number of young people see home ownership as a kind of anchor, he says, but he downplayed any aspirations of transit-oriented development. “You are not Washington DC,” he pointed out. “You guys are car wired, not train wired.”
