BERKELEY, CA – Mill Creek Residential, a leading multifamily investor and operator specializing in premier apartment communities across the U.S., announced it has broken ground at Modera Acheson Commons, a mixed-use apartment community in the heart of Downtown Berkeley.

The community, which will add 205 apartment homes and 14,000 square feet of retail space to one of the nation’s most dynamic markets, will feature prime access to UC Berkeley. As part of the development community, Mill Creek Residential will restore the Acheson Physicans Building, originally built in 1908, into residential loft-style homes as part of historic preservation efforts. In addition, Modera Acheson Commons will contribute more than $4 million to the city’s affordable housing trust fund.

Situated in a rapidly expanding downtown sector that possesses an average Walk Score of 98, future residents will have the ability to accomplish most tasks by foot. First go-ins are anticipated for mid-2020. 

“The Berkeley market is among the most diverse and educated in the nation, and we’re thrilled to become a part of it,” said Dave Fiore, managing director of development, Northern California for Mill Creek Residential. “We believe Modera Acheson Commons will not only address the need for quality housing in a rapidly growing city, but also provide an unmatched living experience in the area.” 

Located along University Avenue and Shattuck Avenue, Modera Acheson Commons sits less than a block from the west entrance to UC Berkeley and immediately adjacent to the university’s Energy Biosciences Building. The site is also within walking distance of the Downtown Berkeley BART Station, which allows passengers to commute to Downtown Oaklandin 14 minutes and Downtown San Francisco in 26 minutes. AC Transit and Amtrak are also easily accessible from the community. 

Berkeley is one of the nation’s top intellectual and technology centers, which has made a robust job market for new businesses, innovative technologies, entrepreneurial activity and venture investment. In addition to UC Berkeley, local employment opportunities include Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Alta Bates Medical, Berkeley Unified School District and Pixar. 

Modera Acheson Commons residents will also have quick connectivity to a wide variety of retail, entertainment, dining and cultural attractions in the surrounding area. That includes the Berkeley Arts District, Berkeley Repertory Theater, Aurora Theatre Company, Berkeley Museum and Pacific Film Archive and several additional museums, galleries and cinemas. 

Modera Acheson Commons will consist of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom homes contained within four buildings with an average square footage of 716. Community amenities will be highlighted by two rooftop decks that include barbecues and fire pits. Residents will also have access to a 24-hour club-quality fitness studio, spacious clubhouse, Wi-Fi lounges, and controlled-access garage parking.   

Apartment interiors will be delivered with high-end touches, including custom cabinetry, Energy Star stainless-steel appliances, in-home washers and dryers, wood plank-style flooring, high ceilings and built-in shelving. Select homes will include separate dining and den areas, walk-in closets, loft layouts and private balconies or patios. 

Modera Acheson Commons is the sixth development community by Mill Creek in the Bay Area.

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ATLANTA, GA – San Francisco area based Praxis Capital announced that it has added to its Atlanta portfolio through the recent acquisition of the 132-unit Tara Hill Apartment Homes and the 200-unit Flint River Apartment Homes, both in Jonesboro, Georgia. Praxis plans to build a portfolio of approximately 2,000 units in the greater Atlanta market.

The Praxis executive team brings more than $6.3 billion of transactional experience in the multifamily sector, including ownership/management of more than 125,000 apartment units. Praxis seeks to build a large portfolio of Class B/C workforce housing, consistently unlocking embedded value in multifamily real estate. Praxis also looks to expand its relationships with Family Office and Institutional JV Equity sources.

Using the conservative underwriting and extensive due diligence for which Praxis is known, the firm performed an exhaustive search before seizing these high potential opportunities.

“We’ve had tremendous success employing similar strategies with properties in this and other states and this property holds promise for brilliant cash flow with upside potential,” says Brian Burke, President of Praxis Capital. “We foresee these as very desirable properties for both our residents and investors.”

The submarket’s annual rent growth rate of 6.8% was well above the market average of 3.0%. Out of the 20 submarkets in the market, the Clayton submarket ranked 1st for quarterly effective rent growth and 3rd for annual effective rent growth for 1Q18. Annual effective rent growth is forecast to be 5.3% in 2018, and average 3.8% through 2018 to 2020. Praxis plans to invest nearly $3 million to renovate and upgrade the properties.

The properties are being managed by Praxis’ wholly owned subsidiary, PM Residential Management LLC.

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NEW YORK, NY – Since the end of the financial crisis, monthly rents for New York City apartments listed on StreetEasy increased 31 percent or $653, according to StreetEasy’s annual rent affordability study. While the pace of rent growth has varied widely across neighborhoods — from 15 percent in Ridgewood, Queens, to 45 percent in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn — rents are growing fastest in areas with higher shares of low-income residents and renter households with children.

Rents in neighborhoods where families make up at least 25 percent of residents grew 32 percent on average, 5 percent quicker than neighborhoods where less than one quarter of residents had children. Manhattan neighborhoods including Midtown, Gramercy Park, and the Financial District, where less than 10 percent of renters have children, were among the neighborhoods with the slowest-growing rents. Outer-borough areas such as Ditmas Park, Elmhurst, and University Heights, where more than a third of renters have children, were among the neighborhoods where rents rose the most.   

Rent increases have also hit low-income households especially hard. In the neighborhoods with household incomes below the city’s 2010 median of $50,285, rents grew by 33 percent. Over the same 10-year period, rents in neighborhoods with an above-median income grew by just 27 percent — 6 percent slower. For a household spending $2,000 per month on rent in 2010, this 6 percent additional growth adds up to an additional $125 per month or $1,500per year in 2018. In neighborhoods like Prospect Lefferts Gardens and Midwood, dozens of apartments now question for rents more than 40 percent higher than at the beginning of the decade.

“Rents have risen in the city, but not all New Yorkers have felt the same effects,” says StreetEasy Senior Economist Grant Long. “Residents who already struggle to make ends meet and renters dealing with the high costs of childcare are predominantly living in areas that see the most dramatic rent growth. These are often residents who have small financial flexibility to start with. As a greater share of their incomes goes towards rent, it’s increasingly hard for families to save for a down payment on a home, their children’s college education, or emergencies.”

The StreetEasy study also reveals some of the impacts of zoning changes around the city. Seven of the top 10 neighborhoods with fastest rent growth were in part downzoned over the last two decades, limiting growth in the supply of housing. Meanwhile, three of the 10 neighborhoods with slowest rent growth — Long Island City, Dumbo, and the Upper West Side — were in part upzoned between 2007 and 2009. Taken together, these findings suggest that the zoning-related supply factors in some areas of the city may have played a role in mitigating or accelerating overall rent growth.

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