“We always overbuild something. This time will probably be multifamily.”
The comment was made at a recent meeting of Florida developers in Orlando, but concerns of overbuilding the downtown rental market in Chicago have also been expressed.
The Florida Housing Finance Authority, which helps bankroll affordable-housing projects, recently decided to hold off on new rental projects in all or part of 37 counties across the state.
Orange and Lake Counties are among those the authority considers completely “off limits,” based on concerns expressed by real-estate investors, bankers and others. The authority also wants only limited multifamily development in Seminole, Osceola and Polk counties.
Nearly 12,000 new apartments have been proposed or started in the downtown Chicago area, and you can see all of them on our at-a-glance list and map of new projects.
Several developers we’ve spoken with have confidently stated that lenders and investors will refuse to bankroll enough of the new proposals to create a glut of apartments. Stay tuned to see if that’s the case.