Midtown rent increases

Higher rent doesn’t just mean a landlord is getting more money. Higher rent also means a lot of landlords are putting money back into their properties via improvements, Debbie Warner, COO at Gaston Wilkerson Management Group explained. Those improvements could be a new piece of fitness equipment in the fitness room, paving the parking lot, repainting and or renovations.

“Landlords lost money for several years through the recession,” Warner said in a phone interview. “Now, they can get a return on their investment.”

While rent is not the only market ups and downs that are experienced during a recession or vary with market demands, it is a growing topic in Midtown as the area grows and embraces being the ‘it’ place to be.

Warner’s point of view on Midtown specifically is from an outside perspective as Gaston Wilkerson Management Group’s properties fall outside the range that is considered Midtown, but she explained a point of view about the rising rents from a landlord’s perspective. The landlords want to profit from their investment, that really is the point of an investment after all. Many landlords also have an interest in reinvesting in their property. When the market started to shift positively after the Great Recession, rents started to go up because the market was starting to stabilize. Landlords, who want to improve and gain more from their investment, are likely performing property improvements not just looking for profit.

“All of our clients believe in reinvesting in their property,” Warner said. “That is really good for the whole economy,” she added. Reinvesting in the property means money is trickling into the economy. People are being paid to perform the work that makes property changes and or goods are being bought for the property.

Benjamin Nelson an associate at Marcus and Millichap shared a specific example within Midtown that has experienced extensive modern renovations, pushing rents up as a direct result. Kramer’s Midtown, previously Silver Chaparral Apartments, is a 1970s property located at 645 South Virginia Street that has been fully renovated. After the full overhaul, the new owner increased the rent by about $300 for one bedroom, one bath and two bedroom, two bathroom apartments. The studios have a $200 increase from the previous owner.

Marcus and Millichap also provided information regarding Midtown area rent comparisons. Based on that survey, Kramer’s Midtown rent for $899 for an 800-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit is about average, if not competitive.

A couple blocks back from Kramer’s Midtown are Midtown Commons and Forest Apartments both located in the 700 block of Forest Street. Midtown commons asks $935 for a 600-square-foot, one bedroom, one bathroom. and Forest Apartments asks $800 for a 760-square-foot one bedroom, one bathroom.

Like much of Midtown, residential properties have their own characteristics that make them unique and may also contribute to their supply and demand — and rent.