| Author
|
Post |
 
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Many other communities have made the mistake of thinking that if you build it and they will come. From Forbes.com
America's Emptiest Cities
Daniel Fisher, 03.02.11, 01:00 PM EST
Orlando and Las Vegas stand as proof that if you build it, they may not come.
A few years back developers in Orlando, Fla., thought they had it all figured out. With apartments rapidly being converted to condominiums, they started building new apartment complexes to absorb all the renters who didn't want to buy.
Then the economy went into recession, vacationers stopped going to Disney World, and financing evaporated for developers and buyers alike. Result: More than one-fifth of Orlando's rental units are vacant, landing it the top spot on Forbes' list of America's Emptiest Cities.
Yahoo! Buzz"There was supposed to be a need for new rental product to replace what was being taken out of the market," said Ken Delvillar, director of apartment brokerage services at Cushman & Wakefield in Orlando. Developers "were trying to look ahead of the curve."
In Pictures: America's Emptiest Cities
That mistaken prediction pushed Orlando's rental vacancy rate to 23.6% in the fourth quarter of 2010, second only to Dayton, Ohio, among the nation's 75 largest metropolitan areas surveyed by the U.S. Census Department. Orlando's high vacancy rate for single-family homes--8% at the beginning of 2010--pushed it to No. 1 overall.
To construct our list, we ranked cities over all four quarters of last year by single-family and rental vacancy rates, then averaged the ranks to determine the top 10.
"Several areas of blight"...Seriously?? I lived in Memphis, and sad to say 90% of that city is blight...they need to hit reset on that once great town, its in a very pathetic state at the moment......
Las Vegas comes in second, with its bloated inventory of homes left over from the housing bubble. Sin City's single-family vacancy rate of 5.5% at the end of last year--more than 7,000 empty homes in the city proper, according to Census estimates--was among the highest in the country. Rental properties were a little closer to the national average at 13.5%. Nationwide the single-family vacancy rate ended the year at 2.7% while rentals were at 9.4%.
At No. 3 is Memphis, Tenn. The city's 9.4% unemployment rate isn't particularly high, but there are thousands of units of deteriorating rental property near the city's center, helping to push the rental vacancy rate to 16% in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to the Census Department, down from 21% at mid-year.
"There are several pockets of blight around the city, and as a result, absentee property owners have responded by boarding up their properties," said Mark Fogelman of Fogelman Management Group, a closely held property firm with 5,000 units in Memphis. Those blighted areas exaggerate the Memphis vacancy rate, Fogelman says, which has been stable at 7% to 8% in most of the city's other submarkets.
Next comes Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., where the single-family vacancy rate surged to 6.4%, the highest in the country, in the fourth quarter. Fifth is Dayton, Ohio, where demolishing vacant homes has become a growth industry.
The former auto-parts powerhouse, where the unemployment rate soared into double digits with the decline of longtime stalwarts like Delphi ( DPHI.PK - news - people ), has an estimated 15,000 units of vacant housing and is demolishing some 400 a year to reduce urban blight.
"I'm taking whole blocks down," says James Kent, a developer who partnered with two nonprofits to hire recently released convicts to deconstruct empty homes and recover their lumber and fixtures for use in new projects. "The population has declined, jobs have declined, and the number of houses exceed what is needed."
BuzzIn Orlando, like many cities on the list, the apartment market is split in half. At the top end, so-called Class A complexes have occupancy rates around 90%, and owners are beginning to raise rents. Class B complexes are also full, said Delvillar of Cushman & Wakefield. Dragging down the market are Class C properties, many of them built in the 1970s and 1980s, where occupancy rates are in the 60% range and landlords have difficulty collecting rent.
Delvillar cited one fixer-upper apartment complex on the market for $2.5 million, down from its last purchase price of $7.5 million. At 60% occupancy this complex doesn't have a return on investment right now; rents don't even cover operating expenses. But Orlando's unemployment rate is coming down, and the sun always eventually shines on Florida property markets. At least until the next bubble bursts.
In Pictures: America's Emptiest Cities |
|
|
Sat Mar 12, 2011 1:55 pm |
|
|
00SL2
F L I N T O I D
|
quote:
"I'm taking whole blocks down," says James Kent, a developer who partnered with two nonprofits to hire recently released convicts to deconstruct empty homes and recover their lumber and fixtures for use in new projects. "The population has declined, jobs have declined, and the number of houses exceed what is needed."
So who's to blame for not doing the same thing here in Flint. When houses go on demolition lists why isn't the city or county having similar teams go into them to recover what's there for recycling or selling as scrap to recover some costs and give recently released convicts something to do? What happens now to the remains of demolition, are they being recycled or just dumped? I've heard of a number of ex-cons who've been unable to get work or training when they get out. Would be a plus to put them to work, reclaim junk as treasure from the demolitions. Get to the empty houses before the thieves do. |
|
|
|
Sat Mar 12, 2011 9:18 pm |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
MSHDA now insists on deconstruction and that is becoming a new standard. The land Bank is doing that as well and their deconstruction crews wear identifying emblems, hats, etc.
Part of the problem is that many homes have already lost anything of value as the metal thieves and vandals have struck. They even take the windows on some houses and in others they are broken by youths. Metal doores amd some wooden ones are stolen.
Go to the land Bank's Genesee Institute site and you will find an excellent research piece on Deconstructing Flint. It details how some of the early homes built for shopworkers were built with such inferior materials, they are not appropriate for reuse.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:07 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
Sun Mar 13, 2011 8:43 am |
|
|
Ryan Eashoo
F L I N T O I D
|
The City of Flint's plan to build Smith Village is nothing but Crazy. This is wasteful spending at it's best. I can think of 10 million ways to better spend this money.
|
_________________
Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
|
|
Tue Mar 15, 2011 6:48 am |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Both Flint and Genesee County nonprofits have been unable to sell their homes. That is a focus on the October Office of Inspector General when they focused on Salem Housing.
Doug Wieland made a presentation and said the average selling price in the City of Flint was $16,000. That begs the question as to where are we going to find buyers for $70,000 new houses.
What will this do to the home values in University Park and other areas when we heavily subsidize these homes. |
|
|
|
Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:12 am |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Profile
FlintTalk.com Forum Index
> Political Talk
