New Construction Lease Up Advice

Hello everyone,

I started in this industry as a Leasing Professional in conventional housing and rose through the ranks to APM. I am the Senior Leasing Professional in student housing with standard joint and several leases. My company is building a property in Charlotte, NC and I have been tapped to go and lead, develop and lease up the new construction.

I am familiar with a student housing style lease up. I have never worked a conventional new construction lease up. What advice can you seasoned professionals give me?

Be very cautious with your lease commencement dates. Construction delays are common, so do lots of due diligence on your builder - do they complete projects on time? Do they have experience with and good rapport with the building official? If not there may be last minute problems getting the certificate of occupancy.

It's important that you get solid legal advice on what language to use regarding the commencement date. Otherwise the company might be responsible for housing new lessees off site until their apartment is ready.

You can also consider offering half off the first month's rent, that helps offset the uncertainty and smooth over the inevitable hiccups that will be encountered when first moving people into what was a construction site just a few days before.