More Information About Rentals

There has been a flurry of activity in the rental market recently.  Here is a map created by one of the frequent posters to Urban Planet.  This map shows the new apartment complexes that have been announced, and their location on a map.

There is no surprise that a lot are clustered around the LYNX Blue Line in the SouthEnd.  Whole new communities are popping up, and the existing projects all have pretty good reputations.  It is reflective of two things; people still being unsure of their situation, and developers finding that financing for apartment complexes is far easier than condos.  With condos, a developer needs to have a certain number of units presold to get the financing needed.

They are not always welcomed however.  I wrote earlier this week about the Mercury project in the NoDa area.  Area residents are not all that happy about how it will change the fabric of the neighborhood.  The developments in the SouthEnd were basically being put in areas that were undeveloped, and other than some empty buildings, there were no one to object. 

In some areas, large developments have caused a significant drop in property values for their neighbors.  An example is Fifth & Poplar.  The units on the Pine Street side of the building have all lost significant value, approximately 40%, when The VUE was built.

The one thing that is for sure is that as the LYNX line is extended to UNCC, all stops along the way will be getting interest from developers.