Industry News | Wk of June 4
HOT & RELEVANT TOPICS
Can Marijuana Solve Denver’s Affordable Housing Crisis?
The city of Denver is considering raising a special tax on marijuana sales from 3.5 percent to 5.5 percent to assist with the city’s Affordable Housing Fund. A proposal unveiled last month would generate an estimated $105 million in new funding for affordable housing over the next five years. While many city officials are on board with the idea, concerns exist about the stability of the funding. With several additional states having legalized marijuana in recent years, the effectiveness of Denver’s attempt could prompt similar action elsewhere. Read Margaret Jackson’s article in Bisnow Denver.
How Much Is My Rent? And Answers to Other Important Questions
Property management teams can consult their peers at the Apartment Management & Maintenance Support Group, a Facebook page with 30,000 members that promotes a forum discussion on a wide variety of topics. Units magazine recently recapped five conversations, including what to do when a resident asks for a rental rate over the phone, questions to ask when interviewing for a maintenance supervisor position, how to address complaints about rent hikes, how long it should take to paint a two- or three-bedroom apartment home and best strategies for converting to a smoke-free community. Read the highlights of the five discussions.
How Yelp (Mostly) Shut Down its Own Data Centers and Moved to AWS
As Yelp morphed into an intensely popular review site, the company realized that running the massive application inside its own datacenters was not sustainable. Increasingly limited by long lead times, the company started to consider moving to microservices architecture in 2012. The next year, Yelp moved to the cloud and teamed with AWS for the technological shift. Continued tech advancements, including the emergence of the Docker virtualization platform, led to a lengthy shift to pull everything together. Yelp moved its master database to AWS last summer, representing the final step of shift. Read Ron Miller’s article on TechCrunch.
IN THE NEWS
8 Game-Changers For Multifamily
Recent research by the National Multifamily Housing Council indicates that the country will need 4.6 million new apartment homes by 2030. With changing demographics, psychographics and renter preferences, developers have more pressure than ever to keep pace with the disruptive shifts and deliver homes that will be relevant for future renters. NMHC’s Rick Haughey, vice president of industry technology, discusses eight primary themes apartment operators must consider when developing new homes: technology, marketplace, people, employment, transportation, shopping, health and spaces. Read Haughey’s breakdown of each component in Multi-Housing News.
What CRE Can Learn From The Boards at Amazon, Starbucks and Macy’s
Three of the world’s top brands have something in common – a diverse board of directors. Multifamily investment firm JLL has followed suit and has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute for the 10th straight year and one of the 50 Best Companies for Diversity by Black Enterprise and The Executive Leadership Council. Studies have quantified the importance of varying perspectives, expertise and backgrounds as it relates to business success, and Amazon, Starbucks and Macy’s all are examples of diverse boards of leadership. Starbucks’ board ranges from millennials to boomers with 29 percent female and 36 percent ethnic minority. Read Lyneir Richardson’s article on GlobeSt.com.
How To Use Hospitality Elements in Multifamily Design
Hotel-inspired getaway spaces are becoming more prominent in multifamily. Oftentimes a smaller hotel room still feels satisfying if the amenity areas offer an abundance of space, and the same holds true for apartment living. Particularly in the Class A sector, apartment operators are making a cognizant effort to cater to the lifestyle of the current renter with hotel-inspired public spaces and club-quality fitness centers. Seattle-based architecture firm Degen & Degen recently discussed the topic with Multifamily Executive’s Lauren Shanesy.
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