Rising home prices show no sign of slowing down and neither do their alternative– build-to-rent communities.
Camden Property Trust is the latest developer expanding into the booming industry of single family rental communities, according to the Houston Business Journal. The Houston-based real estate firm has bought 16 acres along the Grand Parkway south of the Westpark Tollway from CJ Development.
CJ purchased about 43 acres of the 58-acre property in early 2020 to develop Grand Center and has sold all but 16 acres for real estate development on the site, says Johnny Vassallo, general partner with CJ Development, told the Journal.
“This is the largest land sale in our history, and this transaction was a great way to get an awesome product in Grand Center and also mitigate our risk,” he said.
Camden Long Meadow Farms will be the first build-to-rent community in the immediate area, which is currently surrounded by a few retail properties. Grand Center, which has a 46,000-square-foot office building and an 8,500-square-foot retail center, has no residential development.
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The project includes 180 detached homes and 200 two-story duplexes with garages between the office and retail developments in Grand Center, according to CJ Development. The property is next to the Long Meadow Farms single-family residential community and near Cinco Ranch and Aliana, two of the area’s most popular master-planned communities.
The residential development is expected to break ground by the end of the year and have the first homes available for rent toward the end of 2023, according to Vassallo.
The trend of single family rental communities is not expected to slow down anytime soon, as low single-family housing inventory and rising home prices are making it more difficult for young families to afford to buy a house.
In February, Richmond home prices were up 20 percent year-over-year. Last year, its neighboring submarkets, Northwest Houston and Neartown/River Oaks ranked 1st and 3rd nationally in multifamily demand, according to CoStar.
[Houston Business Journal] – Maddy Sperling