Well, here the Fayetteville government goes again.
There is a major rezoning hearing at Fayetteville City Hall on Tuesday, December 19. Not only is the city in danger of losing the Walgreens drugstore on the corner of Highway 54 and Gingercake Road, but they could also end up with a massive condominium complex on the site — 265 three-story condominiums on 22 acres.
The rezoning request is for a change from commercial zoning to townhouse-condominium zoning. The proposed development calls for plastering the corner lot with three-story condominium buildings, creating hundreds of new residential units in a small space.
As I have stated before, the Fayetteville city council has made a generational mistake with the over-approval and construction of multi-family housing. Predictable problems will follow. Solutions to those problems will be few.
Market impact
The first order of business is accurately identifying our multi-family market. The Fayetteville city council might mistakenly believe their market competition is the remainder of Fayette County.
The true multi-family market is the “Southern Crescent” counties south of Interstate 20. For example, Fairburn and Newnan have outpaced Fayetteville in multi-family construction. The rent comparisons and vacancy rates are dependent upon supply in Henry, Coweta, South Fulton, and neighboring cities in Fayette.
Nationally, multi-family construction is higher than at any point since at least 1970, and twice as large as the wave that preceded the Great Recession. The market is cyclical and a supply glut is very possible.
Recently, markets have benefitted from outsized in-migration in the wake of the pandemic. Fayette County has also had an increase in job creation, but the market faces the largest multi-family supply wave in modern history.
It appears that supply is outpacing demand in our true market. Owners financing condominiums and townhouses in our current economy…
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