Gulf Coast Based Companies Filling Apartment Marke

[caevans3]

Nancy Sarnoff has written an article this morning relating Hurrican Katrina and the quick persual of apartment units all around the city. Here's the article:

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3338151

"Places to live filling up fast

Katrina victims could have hard time finding big apartments

By NANCY SARNOFF

Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The number of Houston-area apartments available for hurricane victims is quickly shrinking.

Evacuees and corporate housing companies have been snapping up hundreds of units. Victims of Hurricane Katrina, who will be out of their homes for months, are seeking bigger, less costly places to live. In many cases they are looking for a place large enough to house a family spanning multiple generations on a tight budget.

"It appears the availability of apartments all over the city is going to be quickly going away," said Bruce McClenny, president of Apartment Data Services, a Houston firm that tracks apartment inventory.

While most of the requests for rentals last week were coming from corporate housing firms locking up blocks of units for companies needing to house employees, some were already being rented by evacuees trolling the city for places to stay.

Naima Robin, who has been considering where to live since she and more than a dozen family members fled New Orleans last weekend, considers herself one of the lucky ones.

As the number of apartments for lease in Houston dwindles, Robin and her family found three available units in a nice complex in Stafford.

"We were riding around looking for an extended-stay facility that was furnished, but they were too expensive. Then I saw a big sign that said one, two and three bedrooms for lease," said the 44-year-old registered nurse, who was planning to move out of a hotel and into the complex with her family.

Gavan James, senior vice president of Oakwood Corporate Housing, said in addition to businesses requesting housing for their displaced employees, government agencies involved in the rescue effort are creating demand.

"We're looking at doubling or tripling our operation in Houston based on this. And that's from what we know today. It could go exponentially higher," James said.

Apartment operators are feeling the pinch.

Rockwell Management, which runs 17 apartment complexes throughout Houston, received requests for more than 500 units last week from corporate relocation firms.

"Our availability is quickly diminishing," the company's Jill Koob said.

Many evacuees who are seeking apartments on their own have needs that might make finding places more challenging.

Bill Kavanaugh, a retired firefighter from Jefferson Parish, just west of New Orleans, arrived in Houston with his wife and two sons early Monday. He's having a hard time finding available apartments and is worried he won't find a place that will take his family's five dogs.

He looking for a short-term rental because his family is determined to return to Louisiana.

"I love you people, but as soon as I can, I'm going home and everything's going to be like it was before," Kavanaugh said.

Demand is particularly strong for larger units that can house big families, according to leasing agents who are seeing families of five or more crammed in small apartments.

But most complexes typically contain a small percentage of large units.

"There's a real shortage of three-bedroom apartments all over Texas," said John Baen, a real estate professor at the University of North Texas. "The majority of apartments in Texas are one bedroom or efficiencies because they make more per square foot.""

This is a question more to those in the housing market, but open to anyone. What type of growth will this influx of people spur, and is it all good, or mostly temporary? Also, what locations around the city will see the most growth? Thx.

Sincerely,

caevans3

[RedScare]

I think it will spur some growth, but there will also be an eye cast toward how many companies and families will permanently relocate. A friend of mine who has a law firm in downtown New Orleans, said the commercial brokers he talked to about Houston office space told him available space is getting snatched up quickly. Some of that temporary space inevitably will turn into permanent space.

Given how long it takes to plan and build an apartment complex, a developer needs to predict how much demand there will be when it opens. I'm starting to believe the demand will be there, due to Houston's similarities to New Orleans in terms of industry and port access.

[editor]

As the people displaced from Katrina take up the apartment slack, expect rents to go up for everyone.

That's what happened to me. After Allison my apartment complex filled with people flooded out of their homes, and my rent went from $800 to $1300 a month because FEMA or some other agency or insurance company was paying that much to put these people up.

[Orikal]

There were about 20 Oakwood trucks unloading furniture at my complex all weekend long. Apparently there were numerous large floorplans available.

[Talbot]

This sounds good right now, but what if people finally do leave and don't stay here permanentaly? There will most likely be a big amount of apartment vacancies. But I can hope that there wont be.

[sevfiv]

has anyone seen what a small apartment looks like after five or more people have lived in it for a while?