AMARILLO, TX - An apartment construction boom in Amarillo has some wondering where people will come from to fill at least 850 new units under construction or just opening. "Demand is down all over town because we're overbuilt," Quail Creek Apartments owner Gene Rahll said. "And anybody that tells you they're not down is not telling you the truth. "Now, they're not down bad," he continued. "But they're down from a time we used to have waiting lists to a time when you have 5, and even 10 and 12 percent vacancy."
Amarillo has seen apartment occupancy rates hovering around 90 percent for several years, said Janette Litz, executive director of the Apartment Association of the Panhandle. Occupancy has dipped slightly to 88 percent, according to a February survey of association members representing more than 11,300 units in Amarillo, she said. The Amarillo Housing Survey 2007, conducted by the city, lists an 87 percent occupancy rate for 2006.
Apartment managers and owners who were interviewed reported an active spring and expect occupancy to remain high this summer as people get settled before classes start in the fall. At Red Oaks Ranch, which has few vacancies, one-bedroom units are in demand, Manager Anna Robinson said. "That always happens this time of year."
Stonegate Apartments has seen a steady 97 to 100 percent occupancy rate all year, and demand now is from families looking for larger units, Assistant Manager Teresa Langford said. "Our busy season is from May through September, between school years," she said. "As college starts in August, it will be more the one-bedrooms (in demand)."
Wolflin Village Apartments had just one vacancy, "but I already have someone interested in it," said Manager Amira Hrgic, who said a sister property, Paramount Place Apartments, also had just one unit available. "Right now, it's not that many college kids" who are calling her office, Hrgic said. "It's more young people out of college. We're staying pretty full. The market is pretty good for us." But 2007 brought the launch of "the largest amount of new units we've seen in any one-year period," Litz said.
Case Development of Tulsa, Okla., has opened about half of the 428 units it is building as the $34.8 million The Colonies at Hillside at 7550 Hillside Road, leasing agent Shelby Patton said. "It's going pretty good," Patton said. "We're already pre-leasing for the other section, too. Our first section is pretty much full, and our other section is about half full." Lubbock developer Tigris II Ltd. should have some apartments in its 178-unit, $9.2 million Arden Ridge Apartments at 6220 Blake Ave. available in July, developer Mitch Elliott said. And The Williams Group should start renting initial phases of its $25.5 million Silver Oaks Apartments at 1710 S.E. 34th Ave. in October, developer Perry Williams said. The market "looks like it's real strong," Williams said. "We're already starting to develop a waiting list. We've got 25 to 30 names on the list, and I don't have any place to put them right now."
Elliott said he believes the apartment occupancy rate in Amarillo will remain around 90 percent after the new complexes open for business. "I think it will be very close to that," he said. "It might dip under for a little bit, but I think the market's going to continue to stay strong and continue to grow." The new complexes haven't softened demand yet, Robinson said, "however, I'm no fortune teller."
Amarillo, like much of the United States, experienced a boom in the building of multifamily housing units during the early 1980s, driving vacancy rates up and rent prices down, the city housing survey said. Occupancy r
Source: Amarillo.com