Cost of living: Apartment construction costs for 2019

Homeownership isn’t what it used to be. Many young professionals, families, and retirees are turning to apartments for their convenience and affordability. Demand is far outpacing supply, and the imbalance is growing.

According to analysis completed by the National Multifamily Housing Council, the National Apartment Association, and Hoyt Advisory Services, the U.S. will see a demand for an additional 4.6 million apartments by 2030. That’s more than 400,000 new apartment homes per year that must be planned and built.

RSMeans data from Gordian features more than 100 building and infrastructure models, including models for apartment buildings ranging from modest one-story complexes fit for a neighborhood side-street and those for a 24-story behemoth that belongs in a bustling city center. The table below shows the cost per square foot for constructing apartment buildings in 10 of the cities with the highest search volume on apartments.com.

RSMeans data from Gordian can be localized to more than 970 locations. For more detailed information on predictive cost data, square foot models, or construction cost data, visit rsmeans.com/bdandc.

The Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball team announced that it has reached an agreement with St. Petersburg and Pinellas County on a $6.5 billion, 86-acre mixed-use development that will include a new 30,000-seat ballpark and an array of office, housing, hotel, retail, and restaurant space totaling 8 million sf.

Engineers | Sep 15, 2023

NIST investigation of Champlain Towers South collapse indicates no sinkhole

Investigators from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) say they have found no evidence of underground voids on the site of the Champlain Towers South collapse, according to a new NIST report. The team of investigators have studied the site’s subsurface conditions to determine if sinkholes or excessive settling of the pile foundations might have caused the collapse.

MFPRO+ Research | Sep 11, 2023

Conversions of multifamily dwellings to ‘mansions’ leading to dwindling affordable stock

Small multifamily homes have historically provided inexpensive housing for renters and buyers, but developers have converted many of them in recent decades into larger, single-family units. This has worsened the affordable housing crisis, say researchers.

Deciphering the Differences in Smart Lock Networks

Adaptive Reuse | Aug 31, 2023

New York City creates team to accelerate office-to-residential conversions

New York City has a new Office Conversion Accelerator Team that provides a single point of contact within city government to help speed adaptive reuse projects. Projects that create 50 or more housing units from office buildings are eligible for this new program.