Brett Kaufman addresses the state of Columbus apartment development
Schottenstein Real Estate Group’s President Brett Kaufman was featured in two different articles in last week’s edition of Columbus Business First.
In the magazine, he expressed his optimistic outlook for apartment development and financing in Columbus.
According to Kaufman, the Columbus market is in a good position for new apartment development due to positive rental demand, interested financiers and affordable land prices.
“All those things combined do make it a little bit easier for us to develop than in the past,” he said.
These conditions also mean more opportunities to create Columbus apartment communities in locations with higher visibility, better access to major roadways and closeness to amenities like stores and restaurants.
Kaufman goes on to say that initiatives being sought by the government to breathe new life into Freddie and Fannie Mac won’t have much effect on Schottenstein Real Estate Group’s future apartment development endeavors.
“As it pertains to the for-rent business, I think it will have very little impact at all,” said Kaufman.
Schottenstein Real Estate Group has always had success financing deals through long-standing institutional relationships and while Kaufman doesn’t think Freddie and Fannie are bad programs, he’d prefer not to use them.
Kaufman also hinted at future Schottenstein Real Estate Group projects coming down the pipe later this year, but did not want to reveal details just yet.