A report from Buffalo News in New York. "DHD Ventures, the Rochester-based developer that built the Monarch 716 student-housing complex near SUNY Buffalo State, has lost possession of its sprawling 15-month-old property on Forest Avenue. A state Supreme Court justice in Buffalo last week approved a request by the lenders on the project to foreclose on $38.8 million in mortgage debt, authorizing a court-appointed referee to start the process of selling the property at auction."

"In her brief ruling, Justice Deborah Chimes dismissed the arguments of DHD principals Thomas Masaschi and Jason Teller, who had sought more time to secure alternate financing that would pay off the three insurance companies who had provided two loans."

"DHD, through its Buffalo State Ventures subsidiary, had developed the 10-building student-housing project. Officials touted it as a luxury-style complex with a host of benefits and amenities that would be unique and attractive for students."

"DHD and its first property management company, King Residential Group, sought to fill the complex quickly with discounts and other incentives, while also taking in nonstudent tenants, so they could show better occupancy and financial results to Acres. But tenant complaints mounted, criminal activity spread, and about 100 occupants were evicted for not paying the rent, dragging down the revenues. DHD put the property up for sale, initially seeking as much as $60 million, though it never found a buyer."

"Meanwhile, contractors and vendors on the project – including general contractor Kulback's Construction – filed more than $3.5 million in liens against DHD for failing to fully pay bills from the construction. Finally, Acres – which had extended mortgages totaling $36.3 million on behalf of its three clients – initiated the foreclosure in May after DHD defaulted."

"Meanwhile, contractors and vendors on the project filed more than $3.5 million in liens against DHD for failing to fully pay bills from the construction."

From Statesboro Herald in Georgia. "A $50 million private development recently greenlighted by Statesboro City Council will replace the old University Plaza near the Chandler Road-Georgia Avenue intersection with a ground floor of retail businesses and four upper floors of student apartments."

"The project required a zoning change from commercial to planned unit development, or PUD, plus three variances. After hearing from people opposed as well as those in favor during meetings Oct. 16 and Nov. 6, the council unanimously approved the change and all variances."

"Most of the opposing statements came from representatives of existing apartment complexes, who pointed out that Statesboro is overbuilt with student housing as it is. As currently approved, the project will add 464 beds in 116 units in an area where the Statesboro Apartment Association’s president said there are almost 3,000 vacant units now."

"Statesboro, where according to the city’s estimates almost 80 percent of residents are renters, has student apartments in abundance. 'I don’t think that anybody in this room would argue that the plaza is an eyesore and it does need a rebirth,' Statesboro Area Apartment Association President Margie Williamson told City Council. 'I think that’s an awesome idea. However, I don’t think student housing is the right fit for that. I don’t think anybody on this council realizes how saturated that housing market already is.'"

"She gave an estimate of almost 3,000 empty beds within a five-mile radius of campus. When Councilman John Riggs asked for specifics, Williamson said it was based on Georgia Southern having approximately 20,500 students and there being 23,170 apartment beds within five miles, not including individually owned homes and duplexes available for rent."

"'Of the 20 properties represented by the Apartment Association, only five properties actually filled up this year over 90 percent, and that was after giving away concessions of anywhere from a hundred dollars to a thousand dollars per student, just to try to get a lease,' Williamson said."

"Representatives of at least nine apartment complexes attended the Oct. 16 meeting, and several spoke. When new apartment complexes are built, students flock to these, leaving even slightly older complexes with an increased number of vacancies, the apartment managers said."

"Then the older complexes reduce their rents. Nonstudents take advantage of the lower rents, which some apartment managers said results in criminals entering the mix with students."

"At the Nov. 6 meeting, Williamson followed up with a three-year chart of occupancy rates, rents and incentives at 19 apartment complexes. As of Sept. 1, occupancy rates ranged from 66.7 to 100 percent. Her chart stated a collective 'vacancy loss' of more than $8.8 million for this year."

"'We have plenty of competition, so that is nothing new for us, that doesn’t scare us at all,' she said. 'The issue here is the crime, and you guys aren’t understanding the ripple effect that this is going to bring.'"

The Colorado Real Estate Journal. "With 10,200 apartment units either under construction or in planning in downtown Denver (according to Apartment Insights’ third-quarter data), many are speculating that the market is overbuilt. Ten thousand is a big number – enough to increase downtown Denver’s current apartment stock by up to 49 percent – so it’s easy to be skeptical."

"However, if you dig into the numbers and look at a common economic measure of the balance between apartment supply and demand, what you find may surprise you. In fact, our analysis revealed that downtown Denver is underserved and additional supply is needed."

"Of course, with any rush in supply, there will be growing pains. A closer look at the performance of Denver’s multifamily sector provides a clear perspective on the impact this rapid downtown supply expansion has had on apartment fundamentals in that submarket."

"As new properties enter the market during the lease-up phase, competition among property managers offering prospective renters free-rent concessions dampens overall rent growth. For context, developers added 7,325 new units to downtown Denver – a 55.3 percent growth in the inventory – over the past four years, according to third-quarter data from Apartment Insights."

"If that seems like a lot, consider that there are another 4,457 units currently in lease-up (and not yet considered a part of the inventory) and 4,989 downtown units still under construction."

"How is it that downtown fundamentals continue to hang on? Because there has been a massive pool of potential renters on the sideline waiting for developers to give them what they want: more supply."