The Lease-Up

“When I think about mixed-use, I use the word balance,” Katie Bucklew said in the November episode of the Mission Success: Women in Multifamily podcast series.

As vice president of mixed-use and development with AvalonBay Communities Bucklew specializes in identifying, structuring and closing new mixed-use opportunities. In this podcast with Multi-Housing News Senior Editor Laura Calugar, Bucklew talks about what it takes to strike the right balance between what residents want and the commercial tenants' success.

The student housing sector has been keeping a steady pace with a 94.5 percent preleasing rate and more than 41,430 beds under development. Major universities in Texas remain among the top institutions with the strongest fundamentals including rent growth and inventory. However, some investors are looking towards a new strategy: moving away from flagship universities and investing in smaller markets where supply demand is strong, and enrollment remains robust.

That’s the case with Palladius Capital Management, which focuses on value-add and core-plus assets in markets with high demographic trends and economic potential. In this episode of Student Housing Unlocked, the company’s CEO Nitin Chexal shares his insights on the key factors that drive the Texas student housing market, as well as his approach to making communities desirable.

Here’s what they discussed about:

Marketing for an architecture or design firm looks different than for a multifamily owner or operator. A strong reputation and meaningful marketing material can be the difference between winning or losing out on a potential project. Sarah Wortman, marketing director, MG2, is an expert in ensuring that her company brings all the materials necessary, plus more, to the table.

Wortman has been in her current role since March of 2023. She heads up the marketing team for the company as well as provides rigor and support for MG2’s business development strategy while working closely with the firm’s principals. She has background working for multiple design firms ranging from architecture to engineering companies as well as has experience focusing on client solutions and satisfaction through marketing.

In this podcast, Wortman and Multi-Housing News Senior

Tune in to hear about:

·      Wortman’s background and how she became a

·      How academia has helped shape Wortman’s

·      Communicating why marketing is essential during

·      How marketing can aid an architecture firm in

·      The criteria clients use to choose an architect (9:35)

·      What it looks like to market for a community throughout

·      The importance of data for a design firm’s

·      Marketing for different types of multifamily and

·      Some of MG2’s current projects and the media

In certain markets across the nation, rental rates have been hurt due to a strong wave of supply deliveries. And yet, the U.S. still faces a severe housing shortage partnered with affordability issues. In this episode of Quarterly with NMHC, Caitlin Sugrue Walter, vice president of research, and Bernard Fulton, vice president for housing policy and regulation, join Multi-Housing News Senior Associate Editor Jordana Rothberg to talk about just that.

Caitlin Sugrue Walter’s primary role with NMHC is to conduct research on multifamily trends for the company. Her areas of expertise include apartment market trends, multifamily supply and specialty apartment research topics.

Bernard Fulton brings more than 30 years of experience in and around Congress as a policy advisor, legislative analyst, lobbyist, strategist and political organizer. He is well versed in housing affordability, housing supply, finance and capital markets, GSEs and housing finance reform.

Tune in to listen in on the implications of this new

·      Where new multifamily stock came online and why

·      Why so many units hit the market at relatively

·      How long until high-supply markets begin to

·      Where multifamily development stands in the

·      Specific policy solutions to mitigate the

·      Short term solutions that would make a

·      How taxes could ease or hurt multifamily cost

·      State-wide policies that Fulton hopes don’t move

·      Sugrue Walter’s thoughts on rent growth

·      Government programs and vouchers that can help

Recorded October 2, 2024

As today's residents seek both luxury and a true sense of community, property managers are increasingly turning to on-site apartment coordinators to create cohesive environments.

In this episode, Daniel Ebner, president, and Tara Griffin, director of apartment life at Knightvest Residential join me to explore the unique impact of these coordinators who prioritize building authentic connections and fostering resident well-being.

Ebner and Griffin share insights into how intentional relationship-building fuels thriving communities, especially in an era marked by remote work and increased isolation.

Here are a few highlights from this episode:

– The importance of having dedicated resources for community building (5:43)

– How on-site coordinators go above and beyond to connect with residents (12:39)

– The role that coordinators play in shaping a community’s reputation (17:47)

– What drives Knightvest’s commitment to making residents’ lives easier (21:30)

In this Mission Success: Women in Multifamily podcast episode, Jewell Walton, VP of public partnerships with Evergreen Real Estate Group, talks to Multi-Housing News Senior Editor Laura Calugar about her 20-year career, how she learned to deal with stigma surrounding affordable housing and where opportunities lie in the sector. Tune in now!

From a marketing standpoint, Towne Properties relies on a

In this Top Marketers podcast, Anne Baum, director of

In her role, Baum heads up the marketing department which supports more than 100 properties, four business units and 900 employees. She has been at the company since 2019, having previously served in industries including franchise, non-profit, SMB, reverse logistics and multifamily.

Tune in to listen to Baum chat with Multi-Housing News Associate Editor Jordana Rothberg about all things data. After all, she does joke that data is her middle name.

You’ll hear about:

·       Baum’s journey from aspiring archeologist to marketer (1:15)

·       The two things Baum is most focused on in her current role (4:00)

·       How to identify a “source of truth” within a company and why it’s so important (7:00)

·       Towne Properties’ CRM and the data systems the company uses (9:30)

·       Classifying and dealing with data discrepancies (13:30)

·       The process of cleaning data (18:20)

·       What marketers can do to increase lead to lease optimization through data (21:00)

·       How marketers can use data to drive change internally (23:10)

As one of the largest developers and operators of student housing across the US, Landmark Properties has built a reputation for delivering high-quality, innovative communities tailored to students' needs. But when it comes to student housing, it’s also important to know how to navigate risks while still capitalizing on the sector’s strong fundamentals. Despite ongoing challenges in the market, the company delivered over $2 billion worth of properties last year alone and started work on other major projects in prime university markets.

In this episode of Student Housing Unlocked, Associate Editor Olivia Bunescu talks with Max LaVictoire, Landmark Properties’ Managing Director of Investor Relations, who discusses the unique challenges of tackling construction costs while maintaining high-quality standards. LaVictoire also shares the firm’s expansion strategy, along with the importance of keeping up with students’ needs. You'll also get a glimpse into their move in the SFR market and what sets this apart from their core focus on student housing.

Here are the main topics LaVictoire and Bunescu talked about:

Eight years ago, Caroline Kovac had an “aha moment” and decided to follow her passion for design. She founded Design Identity Group, a firm that recently completed its 90th design project.  

In this Mission Success: Women in Multifamily podcast episode with Multi-Housing News Senior Editor Laura Calugar, she reflects upon her professional journey and the mentors who supported her. Today, those same mentors she looked up to throughout her career in operations are her clients.

Housing providers have learned to adapt to the rapidly changing policy landscape, but the most recent idea of limiting rent hikes to 5 percent across the country has left many National Apartment Association members discouraged. Nicole Upano, assistant vice president in the organization’s Housing Policy & Regulatory Affairs department, assessed that, were it to pass Congress, the White House’s proposal would result in rental income loss through 2026 of no less than $28 billion.

In this episode of Multi-Housing News' quarterly podcast series NAA Insights, Upano talks to Senior Editor Laura Calugar about the potential consequences of a nationwide rent cap.