LMC, the multifamily arm for national home builder Lennar, has launched a new initiative to increase the supply of rental housing attainable to middle-income residents.
LMC Emblem Communities will focus on creating cost-effective development of suburban apartment housing across the nation. The Emblem program was created in July 2019 to help address the shortage in supply of Class A housing that is affordable for middle-income residents.
“This initiative allows LMC to expand our current product offerings to offer housing to middle-income residents and continue to fill the gap in the U.S. housing shortage,” says Doug Bober, division president of LMC Emblem Communities.
LMC has assembled a pipeline of 20 new communities across its divisions that will target households between 80% and 100% of the area median income, according to Bober. The first development is under construction in suburban Atlanta in Gwinnett County and will feature 344 apartments. The first homes are expected to be delivered late this year.
To create a more cost-effective product, LMC Emblem Communities will focus on simplification and standardization to increase efficiencies with regard to cost and schedule. According to LMC, these developments will reach the market quicker than individualized communities.
The approach will utilize consistent interior finishes, such as quartz countertops in kitchens and baths, stainless steel appliances, and luxury vinyl plank flooring, across the Emblem Communities portfolio.
“The standardization and consistency of the prototype model allows us to deliver a quality product at a lower cost basis,” says Bober.
According to LMC, scale and repetition will provide a reduction in costs regarding architectural and interior design and branding as well as an anticipated decrease in labor costs through increased contractor efficiency. Acquiring materials in bulk will be another solution toward driving down front-end expenses.
“On a typical community, we make thousands of decisions and only build it once. At Emblem, we make all of these decisions once and replicate the prototype nationwide at a cost savings to residents,” says LMC president Todd Farrell. “There is a troubling lack of quality yet attainable homes in the suburban rental housing supply, and we’re taking direct aim at that missing middle with LMC Emblem Communities.”
