Manufacturing jobs feed far-reaching multifamily development boom

Forget “retail follows rooftops” — it’s starting to look as though residential projects are following industrial development to heat up the outskirts of the Atlanta metro market.

Multifamily development is in full swing in exurban areas along Interstate 75 both north and south of Atlanta, where the residue of the pandemic-driven work-from-home trend has combined with a boom in manufacturing jobs to spur demand. There are about 20 apartment complexes under construction in the area, accounting for more than 5,000 units, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. 

The multifamily push comes in the wake of an “explosion of industrial development and job growth,” according to Midtown-based real estate consultancy  Haddow & Company. The numbers give evidence of “significant multifamily development relevant to past cycles,” the firm wrote.

The trend to the north accounts for about 2,400 apartment units taking shape in Bartow and Cherokee counties.There are about 2,800 or so in the works on stretches of I-75 to the south, beyond Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, into Spalding and Henry counties. 

Developers have proposed eight more projects that combine for about 2,000 more units along I-75 to the north and south of the city center.

The growth has been driven by warehousing and logistics developments in the area as well as the recent arrivals of jobs tied to the manufacturing of electric vehicles and solar-energy gear. The biggest example is South Korea-based QCells’ recent $2.5 billion investment spread over Cartersville in Bartow County and several other exurban areas.

Georgia ranks first nationally in clean tech projects announced — 33 are either in the works or on the drawing board, combining for nearly $15 billion in total investments — since the Inflation Reduction Act passed two years ago, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The projects and the jobs connected to them have come mainly in far-flung areas, where land is cheaper. 

Multifamily developers of projects now under construction moved to add supply to Atlanta’s outskirts before the recent rise in interest rates. It remains to be seen whether the boom will continue at its current pace with interest rates now several points higher than in 2022.

The demand shows fundamental signs of continuing, however. Haddow noted that exurban areas such as Cherokee and Henry counties along the I-75 outpacing the City of Atlanta for population growth since the pandemic.

Atlanta is also growing within its city limits, even if its pace is slower. The Midtown district of Atlanta has been particularly busy as part of a trend that has seen 23,000 multifamily units come to market across the metro, the fifth-highest total in the U.S., according to CBRE.

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