This is not good news for Lake Highlands or the Town Center. Dallas apartment occupancy has fallen in 10 of the last 11 months, dropping to 87.7 percent in June, reports ALN Apartment Data. That’s three percent less than trhe vacancy rate in June 2008. Meanwhile, average monthly rents dropped $18 over the same period.
And, to compound the problem, there are more than 16,000 units under construction, which means rents will keep decreasing and the occupancy rate will keep falling. Says the report: The Dallas market has "virtually no chance to rally [until] the overall economy and the local unemployment rate improves. Dallas may take longer than most areas of the country to recover from this period."
Why does this matter to the Town Center? Because one of its key components is 1,600 apartments, townhouses and condos. But developer Prescott Realty, even it could get a loan to build in this market, wouldn’t want to build given the glut. Where’s the money in building something that you can only lease at greatly reduced rents?
