Urban or Suburban? After Coronavirus, Suburban Multifamily Properties May Have the Edge

At the end of the most recent 10-year real estate cycle, Downtown Dallas was drawing in multifamily developers envisioning a vibrant inner city filled with high-end multifamily skyscrapers. But apartment developers and investors in Dallas-Fort Worth now envision a future where the net operating incomes on high-rises in urban areas — and a race to more spacious suburbs — will challenge confidence in the urban, multifamily revival. 

"Cortland was focused on the suburbs even before they became cool," multifamily owner and manager Cortland Chief Investment Officer Mike Altman said while speaking at Bisnow's multifamily webinar last week. "I've always thought of it [apartments in the suburbs] as a great value proposition to our residents and believe the location is becoming more and more a better location to live and raise a family than in these urban cores."