No need to settle: High-end rental market booming

• Westchester could get 6%2C000 new rental apartments in the next five years.
• Adults in transition and young professionals want downtown rental apartments.
• %22Apartment development continues to be the darling of commercial real estate%2C%22 economist said.

For Rob Unger the search for a new place to live drew him to Avalon Ossining, just-built rental apartments at the Croton border.

He is one of thousands of adults in transition, young professionals or new couples who want rental apartments over homeownership and are sparking a building boom in Westchester County.

"My priority was new or relatively new and with some open outdoor space so I could grill," said Unger, a 56-year-old salesman at Leiberts Royal Green Appliance Center in White Plains, who lived in Armonk for 11 years before a divorce.

"I am going through a personal transition and Avalon was the most expedient for me. I am not sure what my situation is going to be," he said of his rental choice. "I didn't want to purchase, but I needed a nice place to live."

Allan Olson, 30, a structural engineer in lower Manhattan, moved to a White Plains luxury rental so he could walk to the Metro-North station and his wife could drive to Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, where she is in a medical residency program.

"We wanted to make sure we only needed one car," said Olson, who lived in New York City for five years. "Manhattan has incomparable energy, but it is nice to get out of it." He said they got more for their money in Westchester and retained flexibility while they decide where to settle permanently.

The apartment building boom is particularly obvious in White Plains and Ossining, both of which are close to train stations and major roadways. The trend is less prevalent in Rockland County, but at least one project, by developer Martin Ginsberg in Haverstraw, shifted gears from condominiums to rentals to meet market demand.

Developer David Mann of Lighthouse Enterprises in White Plains expects to complete the 66-unit La Gianna at 10 DeKalb Ave. in White Plains by late spring. In August he completed the 30-unit Apuovia on nearby Lake Street and it rented quickly. He has another project underway on Waller Avenue.

"There has been a shift in the perception of owning property following the real estate market crash. Real estate was considered to be a nest egg with values always going up. Things have changed and now renting is more attractive and with a lot less headaches," Mann said.

Construction work and the influx of residents benefit the City of White Plains, which has 57,000 residents but gears up for more than 200,000 during the workweek, Mayor Thomas Roach said.

"We are a retail hub and these are customers," he said.

Roach said rental housing is the focus of new construction and these developments are "just the tip of the iceberg."

"Young people aren't as enamored with ownership as their parents," he said. "They like Zipcars and living in apartments. And we are also seeing empty-nesters."

Monthly rents range from $1,750 to $3,200 for one- to three-bedroom units in this high-end market. Amenities include in-unit washers and dryers, wood floors and stainless steel appliances, common areas and community rooms, swimming pools, outdoor grills or even hiking trails. Additional charges for garage space and recreation vary among complexes.

The 2013 apartment inventory amounts to roughly 40,000 apartments in buildings of 40 units each. At least 26 rental projects are before community boards in the county, according to Reis Inc., a real estate research firm, which said if those are built as proposed it could add 6,000 units in Westchester in the next five years. The county's vacancy rate is near 3 percent compared with 4 percent nationwide.

"Apartment development continues to be the darling of commercial real estate," said Ryan Severino, a Reis senior economis2t.

Virginia-based AvalonBay Communities has had more than 1,200 units in Westchester County and 500 in Rockland since the 1990s. It is adding to that with the area's newest complex at 271 N. Highland Ave., in Ossining. Two of four buildings are done; the development ultimately will have 168 units.

"You have a demographic, the millennials, who are coming of age and renting is the lifestyle choice of many," said Grant Jaber, AvalonBay senior development director.

The change is good for downtown business, said Ossining Village Mayor William Hanauer.

"Ossining has proven in the last 7 years or 8 years that our economy is strong and we have a high bond rating," he said. "We have a lot of middle-income housing. What we didn't have was high-end rental housing. And here came Avalon with a proposal to build luxury rentals and we are thrilled."

Three other projects are poised to add more than 200 apartments downtown: Harbor Square at the waterfront with 188 units, Steppe Construction at 147-155 Main St. with 31 apartments and 105-107 Croton Ave. with 14 units plus retail space.

Noemi Olivo, 66, a clinical researcher who moved from Georgia for a job in Tarrytown has moved into Avalon Ossining.

"Not knowing the area I thought I would try a rental. My job is brand new and I want to be able to focus on that, not a house or renovations," she said. "I want the convenience of an apartment near to my job and within easy travel to New York City."

By the Numbers

Rents range from

$1,750 to $3,200

for one- to three-bedroom units plus various additional fees.

Westchester has

40,000

apartments in buildings of 40 units each.

26

potential projects could add 6,000 more units in Westchester.