The future of rental housing was one of the panel discussions at the 2022 Real Estate Symposium, and it included Danville Ledbetter of Solteira Development Group. Ledbetter shared that he formed a company almost five years ago to develop horizontal apartments. So what is a horizontal apartment?
"It's a 123 bedroom home that's in an apartment setting and it's rented and professionally managed, just like an apartment is," said Leadbetter. "From entering the community all the way up to the parking stall, it's just as an apartment is. So, you're coming into a parking lot. You're going to your parking stall. But then from that point on, as you walk up rather than walking to a building that has multiple units in it, you're walking to a free standing you know four-sided small home."
He continued.
"We're really, really happy to be introducing something to the marketplace that doesn't exist. Part of the way of driving costs down is marketplace competition and and added products helps with that. You know, being able to provide a house at an apartment price, even though it's a slightly modified lifestyle, is a great thing in today's economy and it's one of the ways that we can begin to help solve for the workforce housing issues that we have."
Ledbetter than addressed the economics of renting versus owning your home.
"When looking at the for sale, it really came down to like the affordability overall per month. Like what is that whole chunk price that somebody is able to pay per month in the marketplace. So right off the bat you can begin to see that from a whole to a price that the the rental market has a place. With a low barrier to entry and can compete against the owning space because of the affordability."
The first phase, called Odyssey by Solterra, opened in September 2022 at the Forum in Fort Myers. The second phase, Altair, by Solterra, is currently underway at the Forum as well.
Karen Moore is a contributing partner for WGCU and the publisher of SWFL Business Today.