Table of Contents February 2007

FEATURES

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  Outside Influences

   
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  Efficient Design

  “We find that studios are in more demand than other units,” says Jim Rivard, a principal and director of real estate with SRM Development, the Spokane, Wash.-based company that developed the 229-unit Market Street Village. “Studios lease up more quickly because they are more desirable for a single...

   

Cover Story

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  Family Values

  One of the company's principals reads to children in an after-school program. The human resources manager spearheads programs for single mothers. A property manager helps a laid-off resident find a new job.

   

NEWS + NUMBERS

Direct Reports

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  Direct Reports

  At moda, a condo project under construction in downtown Seattle, 83 of the 251 units do not include parking spaces. But that didn't deter buyers: The project sold out in less than a week. Residents of moda do get something in lieu of a parking spot—a lower-priced unit, thanks to reduced...

   

Regional

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  Busy City

  The Chicago apartment market is poised for a very good year, thanks to a combination of job growth, maxed-out mortgages, and low construction costs. Local employers are expected to add jobs at a relatively strong rate for the fourth consecutive year—an estimated 40,000 during the year—which in turn...

   

PEOPLE + PLACES

Apartment Life

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  One-Stop Shop

  In many ways, the leasing center at Forest City's University Park at MIT resembles the popular Apple computer stores. The space is brightly lit, open and airy, features display tables with models (apartment mock-ups instead of iPods and laptops, of course), and offers plenty of interactive...

   

Facelift

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  Living Large

  When you're renovating of one of the largest rental properties in California's Bay area, it's important to think big. And, in the Richmond, Calif., of the late 1980s, it didn't get much bigger than the Hill top Bayview Apartments, a garden-style, 1,008-unit complex comprising 42 buildings spread...

   

Corporate Ladder

• Worthy Enterprise

  Doris Koo has always been people-focused, from her school days as a sociology student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to her service at the Seattle Housing Authority to her work as executive vice president, strategic programs at Enterprise Community Partners. Now that focus has catapulted...

   

SALES + SOLUTIONS

New Developments

• Waterfront Life

  “This is an exciting time for Wilmington,” says Rob Buccini, cofounder of developer Buccini/Pollin Group, whose roots are in the city. “Never before in the history of Delaware has so much construction taken place.”

   

Tech Specs

• Wired for Wellness

  Remember when a fitness center was just a handful of stationary bikes and a collection of free weights? How times have changed. Today's multifamily fitness facilities can be anything from medical clinics to cardio theaters, where residents can find a host of technology—glucose detectors, heart and...

   

PRODUCT STUDIO

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  Q & A

  How has the apartment industry changed in the past 10 years?

   

• Product Studio

   
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  To Protect and Serve

  Residents who choose to live at The Prime, a luxury mid-rise condo development in Manhattan's Meatpacking District, won't have to deal with the jingle-jangle of a bunch of keys to get into their homes. Instead, they'll swipe their fingers on a biometric fingerprint scanner.

   

LANDMARKS

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  The Poplar Apartments

  The Poplar Apartments is thought to be the very first luxury apartment building in Charlotte, N.C. In fact, many city locals still see The Poplar as one of the most well-built, majestic multiple–unit structures in the South today.