Apartment boom and bust

Is the timing for the Wizer Block apartment project past?  Is the apartment market becoming over saturated?

From the Barry Apartment Report: Spring 2014 

HEARD ON THE STREET
“The smart money is saying if you’re not out of the ground now, or very close to getting out of the ground, you might have missed the boat.” Craig McConachie C&R Real Estate Services

“Fully supplied, not oversupplied in 2014. The apartment sector may flirt with over- building, but this industry can lay off the gas pedal fairly quickly.” Real Estate Analyst—2014 ULI Emerging Trends

“Retail is a fine idea, but as a planning tool, I think it’s been applied too liberally. It’s over-supplying the retail market essentially,” Spencer Welton, Simpson Housing, regarding ground floor retail at many of the new apartment buildings. 

“If you want a snapshot of what Portland chic has become, just drive—well, maybe you’d better bicycle—down Division Street between SE 31st and SE 44th Avenues.” Willamette Week 

“Setting bare minimum standards and then offering developers a thousand ways to dodge them is a short sighted calculation masquerading as big city thinking,” Oregonian editorial 

Is time right for a comeback by condominium projects?
Daily Journal of Commerce, August 18, 2014, By Inka Bajandas

Industry professionals monitoring construction of first Portland condo tower since recession

Construction of Hoyt Street Properties’ 28-story Block 15 condominium tower in the Pearl District is prompting discussion whether more such projects could follow in Portland. (Rendering courtesy of Boora Architects)

Becky Scharf is watching progress of Hoyt Street Properties’ Block 15 condominium tower under construction in the Pearl District. But what the principal broker at Urban Properties Group really wants to know is if the first condo project to emerge in Portland after the recession is a sign of more to come.

“I have clients asking me about new projects all the time,” she said. “Everything is leased out. Definitely, we could use more inventory.”

Scharf and other Portland-area brokers say too few Portland condos are available in areas like the Pearl District and South Waterfront District to keep up with rising demand.

The idea for Hoyt Street Properties to build more condos didn’t come up until the company teamed up with developer Joe Weston, who pointed out that Portland’s rental market was starting to become oversaturated, Hoyt Street Properties President Tiffany Sweitzer said. She also reasoned that in the time needed to build another condo project, the market would improve.

“We started to look at the resale market take off,” she said. “We thought we have an opportunity. We can be the first one out.”

Block 15 will capitalize on the tight market for Portland condos, Becker said.

“There is just not a lot to choose from right now,” he said. “That’s something that Block 15 has going for it, but it’s going to come at a premium.”