The Three Things that Can Hamper Multifamily Innovation
The apartment industry has long been painted as one that’s afraid of change and reluctant to embrace new ways of doing things.
That may have been true in the past, but when I look at multifamily today and the MICA session lineup, I see an industry brimming with ingenuity and an entrepreneurial spirit.
Across the country, investors, operators and supplier partners are exploring a wide array of innovations to improve the resident experience and increase revenue. They’re implementing smart-home solutions, short-term rentals, self-guided tours, hotel-like resident services and increasingly sophisticated fitness amenities, to name just a few examples.
But in looking at the industry, I do see three factors in play that often inhibit multifamily innovation and growth. Those factors are:
1) Government policy. I’m not here to make grand pronouncements about government being anti-business. However, from time to time, local, state and federal laws can – albeit unintentionally – stifle innovation.
Take the growing number of rent-control laws, for example. When jurisdictions put a cap on rent, that limits the financial incentive to reinvest in and modernize portfolios.
Similarly, some apartment communities may be reluctant to incorporate short-term rentals because the laws in their area may subject them to expensive hospitality taxes.
It’s important for multifamily owners and operators, whether on their own or through an association, to speak up when laws and policies work against their interests and hamper their ability to innovate at their properties.
2) The lack of integration among technological solutions. It has to be easier to integrate individual multifamily technologies into any other technology ……
That may have been true in the past, but when I look at multifamily today and the MICA session lineup, I see an industry brimming with ingenuity and an entrepreneurial spirit.
Across the country, investors, operators and supplier partners are exploring a wide array of innovations to improve the resident experience and increase revenue. They’re implementing smart-home solutions, short-term rentals, self-guided tours, hotel-like resident services and increasingly sophisticated fitness amenities, to name just a few examples.
But in looking at the industry, I do see three factors in play that often inhibit multifamily innovation and growth. Those factors are:
1) Government policy. I’m not here to make grand pronouncements about government being anti-business. However, from time to time, local, state and federal laws can – albeit unintentionally – stifle innovation.
Take the growing number of rent-control laws, for example. When jurisdictions put a cap on rent, that limits the financial incentive to reinvest in and modernize portfolios.
Similarly, some apartment communities may be reluctant to incorporate short-term rentals because the laws in their area may subject them to expensive hospitality taxes.
It’s important for multifamily owners and operators, whether on their own or through an association, to speak up when laws and policies work against their interests and hamper their ability to innovate at their properties.
2) The lack of integration among technological solutions. It has to be easier to integrate individual multifamily technologies into any other technology ……