Sam Zell’s Equity Residential and the luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. have formed a partnership to develop apartments, looking to deploy $1.9 billion to take advantage of the surging demand for rentals.

The two companies will invest about $750 million in equity, plus additional debt, over the next three years to develop projects in Boston, Seattle, Atlanta Austin, Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth and the San Diego area, according to a statement on Tuesday.

According to RentCafé®, more than one-third of U.S. cities are upgrading apartment spaces (increasing in most cases by approximately 50 square feet), allowing for new trends following the COVID-19 pandemic, including home offices.

In fact, 36% of cities surveyed are building larger apartments, with 51% graduating to house two bedrooms. Of those expanding, Everett, Washington, is the leader, with the most apartments in construction. Urban areas are also on the list, with Charlotte, North Carolina, and Chicago making the top 20 as well. The largest apartments are being built in Everett (1,195 average square feet); Scottsdale, Arizona (1,139 average square feet) and Athens, Georgia (1,132 average square feet).

Reprinted courtesy of Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

Sustainability has recently become a major factor that homebuyers consider. Joseph Wheeler, professor of architecture at Virginia Tech School of Architecture and Design, explains that "[Modular construction gives] the builder control of a hundred percent of the job" especially since 95% of the modular home's pieces are created in Van Metre's Winchester, VA factory. Not only is this more efficient than traditional home building, but it also prevents waste as it allows Van Metre builders to order materials down to the exact dimension in bulk.

About Van Metre Homes
Van Metre Homes has been Virginia's premier home builder for nearly seven decades. Van Metre properties can be found in several cities across Loudoun, Fairfax, Fauquier, Frederick, and Prince William counties. Not only has Van Metre continued to innovate and build state of the art homes, but their years dedicated to service, quality and philanthropic work have been recognized by the community and resulted in over 70 awards.

Hotel vacancies during the Covid-19 pandemic have created a once-in-a-generation opportunity to quickly expand affordable housing in some of America’s most expensive regions.

Lawmakers in California and New York have acted on the moment with new policies. But so far, New York is proposing to spend too little, and at too slow a pace, to seize the opportunity, advocates say. California, meanwhile, has taken a more aggressive approach that has already helped create about 6,000 new units of housing.

Just a decade or two ago, Boston's Fenway Park stadium was surrounded by a smattering of surface parking lots, fast-food joints, gas stations and sports bars, an odd slice of Route 1-style suburban sprawl in the heart of the city.

Canada’s economy continued its recovery from pandemic damage in the first quarter, driven by a surge in home construction.

Gross domestic product expanded at a 5.6% annualized rate in the three-month period, after a revised 9.3% pace at the end of last year, according to a report Tuesday from Statistics Canada. That’s slightly below the 6.8% median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Housing investment grew at an annualized 43% pace, easily the biggest driver of growth.

For New York City’s pension funds, there’s no time like now to invest in new apartments.

The two largest retirement systems -- covering public school teachers and municipal employees -- are teaming up with developer Hudson Cos., to allocate $250 million for construction of middle-income housing in the city and surrounding suburbs, the developer said.

Confidence among U.S. homebuilders stabilized in May despite rising costs and shrinking availability of most construction materials.

A gauge of builder sentiment held at 83, National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo data showed Monday. The reading matched the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Since the start of the year, the measure has held within a two-point range.

North American lumber companies plan to ramp up production by expanding existing mills as strong home construction fuels the need for more wood.

West Fraser Timber Co., the world’s biggest lumber producer, plans to expand capacity at five of its lumber mills in the U.S. South. Interfor Corp. is rebuilding a sawmill in Georgia that is on track for completion by the end of 2021. Both companies expect home-building and renovation demand to continue supporting strong prices for wood products in the near future.

The main landlord in London’s Canary Wharf financial district is considering scrapping plans for a new office skyscraper and building a 60-story apartment tower instead.

Canary Wharf Group is consulting with local authorities about the potential for building around 700 homes at its 1 Park Place site that would be purpose-built for tenants, according to an application on the Tower Hamlets council website. The firm had won initial permission in 2015 for a one million square foot office building, the equivalent of two Gherkin skyscrapers.

Confidence among U.S. homebuilders improved in April as strong demand helped offset concerns about rising material costs and supply chain issues.

A gauge of builder sentiment rose to 83 from a March reading of 82, the highest in two months, National Association of Home Builders data showed Thursday. The figure was in line with the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.