Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Task force is investigating solutions to what could be an over-saturated market; citizens concerned development push is not addressing the needs of the city’s non-student residents.
Courtesy of the University of AlabamaTuscaloosa, Ala. — Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox’ Student Housing Task Force met for a third time to hear presentations about the city’s student developments and multifamily market, The Tuscaloosa News is reporting. According to Jim Andrews, who publishes the Tuscaloosa Apartment Guide, occupancy rates are dropping. Based on 180 purpose-built and conventional multifamily communities, occupancy was 97 percent in 2012, and next year’s rate is projected to dip into the vicinity of the low 90s. In 2014, about 3,500 new beds are expected to enter the market. The article mentioned a “secret site” that brokers are selling on the University of Alabama campus. Some general managers of student housing properties spoke about struggling to lease up to 100 percent.