Ken Kiken, owner of Milestone Development Group, has been building apartments in Colorado for nearly 30 years. This experience has led him to a formula for capturing single women renters.
He focuses on providing oversized clubhouses with generous amenity packages. But, for Kiken, it’s not only about the tangible features, it’s about scheduling and organizing ways to bring tenants together as a community that attracts them to his properties and gets them to stay.
For a 270-unit property that is under construction, Kiken plans an oversized, 7,000-square-foot clubhouse. He has been building these lavish clubhouses for years, including 5-lap lane junior Olympic pools, yoga studios, spin rooms and, he says, even the first beer taps in the industry.
Kiken says that Milestone’s occupancy rate is around 93 percent and that two-thirds of his renters are single women professionals with an average age of 33-years-old. He believes that he attracts this renter demographic because they feel safe and they don’t need a separate membership at an athletic club.
Plus, he pays careful attention to make sure the amenities are used. Which means that he focuses on an eclectic design with lots of different sitting areas. Kiken claims that this pulls the residents out of their units to interact or to work.
Another aspect of his renters is that many are transients who want to be able to move quickly and easily for work. So, he lets them out of leases with a 30-day notice. Still, this renter prizes convenience and safety, which is what he offers.
Kiken looks mature neighborhoods in a market that’s seen virtually no new construction for 10 years and that is also located on a highly trafficked corridor, according to the Colorado Real Estate Journal. He has a development underway now and another in the plans and is standing firm on the value of his clubhouse design.
