Crowded housing: Rent cuts and other concessions likely as landlords struggle to fill student housing - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

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The new construction comes in additiobn to several others completed inreceny years, including the 203-unit University Village on Walker Avenue, the 86-unig Fulton Place at the corner of West Lee and Fultojn street, and the addition of 120 units in Sebastianh Village on East Washington Street. Althougyh no one keeps track of the exact numbef of apartments aimedat students, the addition of several hundred in a few shorr years clearly represents a significant growthj in inventory in and around local campuses. Many developerds have been attracted to the relativelh steady income of student and have been enticed to build because ofgrowing enrollments.
UNCG, for example, has growj its student population 16.6 percent in five years, to 16,703 as of fall 2008. N.C. A&g has grown almost 14 percent in that same to 10,388. But by adding so many unitw in so shorta time, they’rd taking longer to sign leases, leaving many landlorde wondering how long or if, they’ll hit full “It used to be the everything was in their hands, they couls dictate the rules of the game,” said real estate brokee Ralph Jones, who is one of the developerd of the upcoming Spartan Crossing, at Sherwood and Granitw streets, near South Chapman Street. Now? “It’s a student’e market.
” Seth Coker, a partner in in said that in past years his student apartmentg complexes would have been mostly leasede for the upcoming school year by late as students made sure to securre a place as soon as they returned from spring He started to see signs of a changerlast spring, when he was leasing for the 2008-0o9 year. “We’re about 95 percent (occupied) for this schoolo year, which is really good, but it was a hard fighrt to get there, and we got there by November,” he Landlords such as Coker and Bryon executive vice president of in said many of their properties are about 40 percenty to 70 percent leased for the upcomingschool year, far behindx what it was a few years ago.
Elsewhere in the Triad, in areass surrounding and , apartment managers say their communities are mostlg on target to lease all of theiravailabled beds, and there have been few, if any, rent concessions. Propertyh owners say there simply hasn’t been as much competition inthose areas, compared to Greensboro, and they’v seen little effect from the economy on students. Greensboroi apartment owners and property managers say they noticed the abundance of housintg choices creating problemslast year. Both UNCG and A&f house about one-third of students on which, between the two, often leaves more than 15,000 student needing an off-campus option.
But the problekm has gotten worsethis year, as the economh has some students delaying decisions, looking for cheaper alternatives or possibly commuting from home to save As a result, student-housing landlords have been flirting with While they aren’t as steepp as the conventional rental market, which is sufferingh from 13.1 percent vacancy, there is evidence of Already managers or developers say they’ve upgradex Internet connections and added flat-panel televisionsz to lure college students to their communities. But more expensivre concessions might soon be onthe way, in the form of rent Coker said he’s already knocked $25 per montu off of rent at some properties.
And new projectxs such as Spring Place, at the site of the old PomonawCotton Mill, add to that pressure by offerin g deals such as one month’s free rent. Nelson, Jonezs and Randy Dixon, ownerr of The Edge in Greensboro, say they’vew managed to avoid rent cutsso far, but there’e a good chance bigger and better deals will start appearin g later this summer if things don’t “I hate concessions as much as everyonre else, but I like 100 perceng full better,” Jones said.
In the shorf term, developers say that because of an abundancesof supply, and the fact that it’s hard to find it’s unlikely there will be much more which will help the market level out. And long term, ownersa say they don’t think the Greensboro market is UNCGand A&T continue to anticipate enrollment growth — UNCG says it alreadgy has 300 more applications for housing than it can accept leaving a bigger potential especially when the economy turns. “We’re still in good shape,” Jones “I just think lease-up will come later.
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