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Born to Rent
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More and
more corporate relocatees are opting for apartment living.
By William Poe
It wasn’t long ago that the primary task of a corporate relocation
officer was to find a house for the employee being moved to a new
city. That’s house, as in three- or four-bedrooms with a mortgage
and a school district for the kids.
Now, many relocatees and new hires are apparently forgoing the house
and looking for an apartment instead. That’s apartment, as in one-
or two- bedrooms with a swimming pool, a fitness center and no kids,
thank you very much.
The trend is partly about changing demographics, partly about a
tight housing market, and partly about people’s desires for greater
mobility, say housing specialists.
Ten years ago, one in three corporate relocatees was a renter, says
Kathryn M. Wood, president of Apartment Search, Inc. Now, the odds
are one in two that the relocatee wants an apartment, Wood adds.
It’s a lifestyle shift that she says companies have only slowly
begun addressing. “Corporations have to start addressing renters’
relocation needs. They are just not given much attention.”
Above:
Village Park of Manchester, a 280-unit luxury apartment community
attracts many relocatees on a short-term basis. The 5,500-square-foot
Clubhouse (above) offers amenities such as a business center, billiards,
racketball, fitness center and club room.
At Village Park of Manchester, a 280-unit luxury apartment community
in west St. Louis County, property manager Danette Dietz regularly
makes apartments available to relocatees on a short-term basis.
In many cases, the relocatee will end up in a single-family residence
but is often in no hurry to do so.
“For people fresh to town, this is a great place to meet people
and learn about the area,” Dietz says. “People are taking the time
to really study the area and determine where they want to go. Others
just can’t find a house they want; it’s really a seller’s market
these days.”
James L. Lich, president of Temporary VIP Suites, which rents furnished
executive apartments for terms of 30 days or longer, serves people
who want an apartment for an extended stay but do not want to sign
a one-year lease.
“Our typical customer is someone who is moving in or moving out
of the area and needs to fill in a gap before they are finally settled.
They may be building a house and need a place for five or six months;
just taking their time looking around, or they may be here on temporary
assignment…and need some place with more permanence than a hotel
or extended stay hotel can provide.”
Temporary VIP Suites opened in St. Louis five years ago, and Lich
says the business has grown by 20 percent each year. At any point
in time, the company has as many as 200 furnished apartments in
its inventory. “It has been growing every year, and it’s easy to
see why. We make it easy for relocatees to get in and out. They
have all the furniture and housewares they need, and there is just
one bill each month. Phone, electric and cable are all included.”
Dietz says that her parent firm, Village Green Company, which operates
28,000 apartments in the Midwest, has found the rental market for
relocatees so strong in St. Louis that it is in the process of purchasing
other apartment communities here, including several in the city
of St. Louis where medical centers and medical schools generate
an ongoing demand for one- to two-year relocation housing.
Wood, who started Apartment Search 16 years ago, says that corporate
apartment placements are now 75 percent of her business portfolio.
Her organization, which has several offices around the area, places
about 2,500 clients each year. Some are placed in single-family
homes, which are also made available for rent.
“We’re getting more and more transfers and relocatees,” says Wood,
who offers clients a computer-based search tool for identifying
potential apartments by location, price, amenities and other factors.
“Aging baby boomers with houses don’t want to move with the company
any longer, so relocatees tend to be younger. At the same time,
some empty nesters are now renting in two or more locations, maybe
to take care of parents, be with other family or to go south in
the winter. We’re becoming a global society, and apartments are
becoming a more important part of that equation.”
Dietz adds , “We deal with all kinds of situations and people, including
families who can live comfortably in one of our three-bedroom, three-level
townhouses. We find that it’s all about having the flexibility to
meet individual client needs. Having an adequate apartment inventory
is an integral part of that flexibility.”
Wood and Lich both represent St. Louis corporate clients who need
to place relocatees or new hires in other markets as well. Working
through affiliated organizations, Apartment Search can place people
in any one of 51 cities in 29 states, Wood says. Temporary VIP Suites
is a national company and directly places clients all over the U.S.
and Canada and in other parts of the world through affiliates, Lich
says.
“We can place anyone anywhere,” Lich says.
William V. Poe is principal of Poe Communications, a St. Louis
advertising and marketing communications firm. |
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