5 Rental Community Styles

Learn from design leaders and apartment executives on what makes each community development so unique.

With each site, developer John B. Cruz III, President and CEO of Boston-area-based Cruz Companies, which focuses on affordable housing, evaluates what he terms an area’s “emotional development:” what a community needs most. The townhouse design appeals to residents who value the feeling of a private, for-sale home with separate entrance, sense of control due to not having to share a lobby and hallways and its look of attached or detached rather than one multistory building. Most units range between 1,200 and 1,500 square feet. When economical, Cruz includes balconies.  

Depending on the site, Cruz groups townhouses in clusters of two to eight with a sweet spot of 40 units to maintain an intimate feel and fit architecturally into neighborhoods. Besides benefiting residents, Cruz says he often goes with this type if he has a large enough parcel to set aside green space and if it makes financial sense. “If I could build townhouses all the time, I would because of the community they create with lower density and resident satisfaction,” he says.  

He points to Harvard Commons, a 45-unit property in Dorchester, Mass., as an example of how townhouses can mix well with upper-end, for-sale housing. “This was rarely done in the past but works and has a long wait list. Yet, many developers still prefer a multi-story building because where we may get 40 units, the taller building may have 110 units, and the developer can make more money as land, construction, insurance and other costs influence choices. But we still want to build them when we can.”  

Peter Bafitis, AIA, Managing Principal, at New York-based RKTB Architects, defines a high-rise as a property with at least 12 stories, but sometimes fewer, or a minimum of 75 feet. “Its hallmarks are a robust vertical transportation system and a denser grouping of units than with other types,” he says. Some of the inherent costs to build high-rises such as the structural design with elevators and mechanicals help to drive up expenses, as does enhanced glazing and cladding requirements, plus the permitting processes, constraints and logistics of building in dense urban locations, especially if variances are needed. The choice of materials and their price tag depend on which niche the developers aim for—luxury or affordable, he says. To lower the cost of expensive concrete and steel used in luxury designs, affordable high-rises may be built with prefabricated concrete plank. “But this limits how high a building may go,” Bafitis says.  

The high-rise brings with it a potential marketing advantage of better views, especially when water or parks are in sight, from top-level penthouses, amenity floors or outfitted rooftops, Bafitis says. “Many people also like living up high,” he says.  

Though in his primary New York market most of the newer high-rises are luxury, his firm has also worked in the affordable sector. Its design for the 14-story, two-building East Clarke Place Court community in the South Bronx, with a courtyard between, combined different colors of brick in different patterns to reflect its neighborhood of early to mid-20th century buildings. The higher floors enjoy views toward Manhattan.  

The garden-style apartment property generally is three stories or fewer and includes steps rather than an elevator, says Diana Pittro, Executive Vice President of Chicago-based RMK Management Corp. “If it goes higher than three stories, which some municipalities permit, the building has to have an elevator, which makes it more expensive to construct and maintain,” she says. Another distinction, she says, is that it’s usually built in neighborhoods that are more suburban and near single-family home developments or on the edge of townhome clusters, permitting the availability of more land at affordable prices than in urban settings, so buildings can be spread out and include courtyards and outdoor space. Rents charged are generally less than with a mid- or high-rise, Pittro says.  

An example is Bristol Station, a three-story garden property without an elevator in Naperville, Ill. “Many residents like climbing stairs as part of their wellness program and to enjoy better views of a retention pond rather than parking lot,” she says. The current occupancy rate is 97%. At two-story Brookdale Lakes, also in Naperville and without an elevator, occupancy is 95%, a testament to the community’s landscaping. Residents also appreciate a clubhouse. Both communities are a short walk to a train station, which appeals to younger residents heading to work, Pittro says.  

Some older garden-style examples have been built on the edge of cities but typically house fewer units because of smaller sites, compared with many current models with 200 to 400 units, sometimes up to 600. Many newer units also have more square footage than in the past, and communities are comprised of mostly one- and two-bedrooms with a few three-bedrooms. More are constructed with balconies.  

What creates a sense of neighborliness is the outdoor space where community-wide events can be held, plus access to a clubhouse. Another trend is for garden-style buildings to be mingled with townhomes, which helps increase their cachet from decades earlier, Pittro says. Some older garden properties are now being renovated as grants become available to restore vintage or historic construction.    

Broadly, mid-rise buildings are considered to be between four and 12 stories. In a Miami market that trends toward taller buildings, mid-rise is associated with buildings between eight and 20 stories, says developer Henry Torres, President and CEO of The Astor Companies. Developing mid-rise buildings creates efficiencies that are not possible with high-rise structures, Torres says. “The higher you go, the more expensive the structure becomes because it requires bigger columns and foundation,” he says.

While his firm’s buildings are not all affordable, many include about 35% of such units. To make them financially work, the company cuts back on its selection of exterior materials and interior choices such as carpet mats in lobbies rather than wall-to-wall carpet or tile. “Tile has climbed to $15 a square foot from $4.50 a few years ago,” he says. But it doesn’t scale back on a lobby since making a good first impression is important, he says.  

This approach of mixing high and low choices is key as profits are squeezed. “We’re making money, but not the way we used to, with the cost of materials, land acquisitions, insurance, taxes and municipality impact fees going higher,” he says. “Residents are struggling with prices, and they have choices in a more competitive apartment market.”  

To help residents, his firm is building more studios and one- and two-bedrooms rather than three-bedrooms.  

It also searches for more convenient locations so residents can walk to most necessities. Its Douglas Enclave in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood is near a pharmacy, grocery store, bank and gas station. Astor’s next attainable rental project, Havana Enclave, to begin this summer, is an eight-story, 179-unit building also in Little Havana with similar features and conveniences to Douglas Enclave.  

Architects at KTGY, a national design firm based in Irvine, Calif., have designed build-to-rent (BTR) units from the segment’s earliest days in 2010, post-Great Recession, and have kept step with the evolving changes of more styles, from duplexes and townhomes to single-family-style homes. According to Point2Homes, the BTR segment shows that 39,000 new single-family rentals were completed last year, the highest number on record and a 15.5% jump from the prior year.  

Most BTR designs are detached and arranged in clusters, along with dedicated parking, a common green area and often a clubhouse.  

The incentive for developers is that residents will pay a premium for this style of living to gain privacy, a backyard and often larger square footage within a one- or two-story design, says Bill Ramsey, AIA, Principal at KTGY. Most of his firm’s designs range from 1,200 square feet to 2,000 square feet, some with four bedrooms. Because of the rent premium that residents may pay, they have high expectations for the designs, he says.  

The typical project his firm works on features 100 to 150 units on a 10-to-12-acre site. A clubhouse with a leasing center and fitness and club rooms are included. “In many ways, the living style aligns with what’s historically been popular in the for-sale market, which is different from traditional apartment living,” he says.  

Because of the land needed, BTR communities tend to be selected for more suburban than urban locations. The recent Point2Homes report pointed to Phoenix, Dallas and Atlanta as the top markets.  

KTGY has focused on creating an upscale exterior look by mixing different colors, materials and massing, also aiming to reflect an area’s vernacular. To scale back on costs and maintenance, it repeats materials within units. And to foster a sense of community, since there’s less potential interaction than in a multi-story building where residents run into each other in a lobby and hallways, the firm adds places where this may happen—outdoors in small parks, by shared kiosks to pick up mail and along walking trails.    

More BTR units are also mixed with townhouses and single-family for-sale homes to give residents a choice and help with absorption rates. KTGY’s design for the proposed 344-unit BTR development Bedrock at the Trails in Albuquerque is part of a 37-acre master plan from LaTerra Development. Bedrock at the Trails will consist of two adjacent townhouse and detached single-family home gated communities. Each community will include amenities.  

Nexton, a master-planned community on 5,000 acres in Summerville, S.C., managed by Brookfield Properties, includes the BTR Cadia Nexton community as part of its mix, along with other apartment types and for-sale housing. The community has 282 units arranged on one or two floors and ranging from 576 to 1,440 square feet. All units have private outdoor space and share a clubhouse.  

“The variety offers something for everyone,” says Brent Gibaldo, Senior Vice President of Development at Brookfield Properties, which manages Nexton. “It appeals to college graduates who can’t yet afford to buy a home and want to test the market of living in a private space, as well as Boomers who want to shift to a rental,” he says.

Barbara Ballinger is a freelancer for units. She is the co-author of 20 books; her latest is Kitchen Conversation: Sharing Secrets to Kitchen Design Success (Images Publishing).