Noblesville leads in construction
Since 2007, while the economy was in a recession, 2,739 apartments have been built and 1,467 approved for construction in Hamilton County (a 34% increase). Built
Noblesville 1,218 952 Carmel * 300 Westfield 269 Fishers
Approved
Total
438 571 238 220
1,656 1,523 538 489
*In addition, a 132-unit development has petitioned for approval in Westfield. Sources: City and town offices
Hart developments, for instance, have curb appeal with architecture unique to each community. “The exteriors draw people in,” said Deb Fuller, community manager at Legacy. “They think that they’re condos.” Those apartments have molding over solid, two-panel doors, arched hallways, large windows that drop low to the floor and angled walls. Some of the 29 floor plans offered at Legacy have screened-in porches. But two months after the first move-in in February, those were all taken. The community was 40 percent leased or preleased in August, according to Mark Juleen, J.C. Hart vicepresident of marketing. Occupancy in Hart’s older Hamilton County communities has averaged 90 to 93 percent this year.
New apartment complexes built in the last three years.
Metro occupancy ranks low The growth of apartment occupancy is “well below the national average but improving” in the Indianapolis metro market, said Greg Willett, vice president of research and analysis for MPF Research. Occupancy was averaging around 91.7 percent in the Indianapolis area, a growth of 1.5 percentage points, in the first six months of the year, he said. That growth ranks the metro area 49th out of 64 markets that MPF monitors. Single-family housing here “is pretty affordable for the populace” and the area is “very single-family oriented,” he said.
There should be a demand for 700-800 new apartments (in Hamilton County) per year in the next decade. ~John C. Hart Mindful of the millennials, the company includes amenities that attract young professionals, such as fitness centers, indoor basketball courts, and WiFi cafes and online resident hubs to foster socializing. “The bark park has been a huge selling point” at Legacy, where there is no weight or breed restrictions, said Fuller.
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October • November 2010/Hamilton County Business Magazine
The design and amenities also reach out to those baby boomers who boosted rentals over the past nine years. Legacy’s architecture attracted Howard and Gloria Sinclair; the size of its living rooms helped seal the deal for the couple, who moved into a three-bedroom apartment in April after looking at many developments, said Howard, pouring a free cup of coffee and grabbing a doughnut at the café one Saturday.
Developers watching Hart Carmel-based apartment developer J.C. Hart “really has embraced social media,” noted Greg Willett, vice president of research and analysis for MPF Research near Dallas. In addition to wiring units for electronics and offering free WiFi in its cafes, Hart has online hubs for each of its communities where residents can exchange information, learn about area businesses and plan social events. “A lot of companies (outside Indiana) are watching Hart to see how it communicates with residents using social media, ” Willett continued. The lifestyle suits the Sinclairs, whose condo on Morse Reservoir was foreclosed. Their living room overlooks a wetlands and their balcony in the seven-unit building offers a view of the Conner Prairie fireworks. One of the extra bedrooms is a guest room, the other an office/den. “We were kind of pushed or forced to move,” said Howard, 64, “but we had a pleasant landing.” v