An apartment-focused column for the Atlanta Business Chronicle's blog is loaded with statistical food for thought this week, and none is more scrumptious than this: In the first quarter of 2014, more than 16,500 rental units were in the pipeline across Atlanta. Consider that number against how many Class A apartments were delivered in Atlanta in the last four years: 4,146. Those are the tabulations of Chris Hall, an analyst with Haddow & Co., who pens a cautionary column titled: "Apartment boom: too much of a good thing?" Halls notes that conditions are ripe for this frenzy of multifamily construction, with intown job growth, rents spiking to historic highs, rapid leasing activity at new projects and a relatively low stock of swanky rentals. And while it's too early to sound the alarms, he says it's best to be cautious while moving forward. Other stats bear that assessment out.
Hall counted more than 8,200 units under construction in the first quarter of this year. Beyond that, nearly 8,400 units have been proposed. A year prior, both of those numbers were roughly half what they are now. (What's that spell? Ka-BOOM!) Hall notes the lion's share of activity (4,004 units) is under construction in Buckhead/Brookhaven. What's being built there now will more than double the existing inventory of Class A apartments. (And this guy thinks Brookhaven traffic is bad now.)
· Apartment boom: too much of a good thing? [ABC]
· Study: Atlanta Apartments Still Relatively Affordable [Curbed]
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