By Robert Trujillo and Nathan Shooks for TREND Report
A 4,000 SF clubhouse featuring a large fitness center with yoga area. A community kitchen with adjacent barbecue grills. A fenced dog park. A resort-style pool with a water feature. Spacious outdoor meeting areas. Modern, upscale finishes.
These are just some of the amenities that Harvard Investments provides to residents at FirstStreet Ballpark Village, a 25-acre, build-to-rent gated community in the shadow of Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The community showcases 251 single-level homes with five floor plan selections of one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes.
According to RentCafe’s annual build-to-rent report, the national BTR sector set a record high for the fifth consecutive year in 2023, with Metro Phoenix leading the U.S. in build-to-rent completions.
Why all the interest in BTR? For starters, today’s interest rates can make it harder for prospective buyers to purchase a home. Many simply may not want all the caveats that come with home ownership but still desire a quality home with community amenities and the built-in maintenance that comes with BTR.
With FirstStreet communities, residents enjoy not just a quality, new, detached home experience, but also receive a rich lifestyle through a generous array of amenities and home interior features that can rival a new home purchase. FirstStreet’s success is evident based on the pace of leasing – by early August,147 of the 251 homes in the community were already leased; pre-leasing started in early 2024.
The next FirstStreet community to open is anticipated to be Skyline in Buckeye, Arizona, which broke ground in July. FirstStreet Skyline features innovative planning including one-bedroom, stand-alone detached residences, single-level homes with no common walls, and one-bedroom carriage units with attached garage below the residence.
FirstStreet Skyline will include a 4,000 SF clubhouse with a focus on a healthy lifestyle and a strong wellness theme. Amenities are planned to include a gym with indoor and outdoor exercise areas, a cold plunge, sauna, hot tub, ramadas, fire pits, outdoor games, and abundant seating around the resort style pool.
BTR developers are capitalizing on a vibrant rental home market, yet offering more options than the traditional multifamily apartment community. Consequently, BTR can achieve a 10 to 20 percent rent premium depending on product, location, market supply, and other factors.
The popularity of the BTR option is staggering. RentCafe reports that in 2023 more than 27,400 units were built nationwide, a 75 percent increase from 2022. That same report shows more than 45,000 units under construction across the U.S. – the highest number ever. Metro Phoenix led the nation last year, bringing more than 4,000 single-family rental homes to the market. That was a 10-year high and an increase of more than 164 percent from 2022.
The Valley is not new to BTR communities. Metro Phoenix has been delivering BTR homes steadily since 2016. The Valley’s current BTR stock was completed between 2019 and 2023, according to RentCafe. The pipeline will continue next year and the year after that; it’s estimated that more than 7,200 rental homes will be built by the end of 2026.
Unprecedented growth in Metro Phoenix—including the bustling West Valley—will continue to make build-to-rent communities a popular option for those not yet ready to purchase a single-family home or preferring the BTR lifestyle over the traditional apartment community or home ownership.
Harvard Investments’ BTR communities have demonstrated their desirability to renters as they offer more than the typical BTR. Each home provides 10-foot ceilings, large kitchen islands, high quality appliances, covered porches, doggie doors, smart home technology, plentiful storage, and private fenced back yards within a gated community.
As more people embrace a work-from-home lifestyle, luxury BTR residences that employ smart technology throughout have become more in-demand. Community centers also make it easy for people to drop into quiet, luxurious spaces for Zoom meetings and small, in-person gatherings.
In addition to best-in-class home interior and community amenities, Harvard Investments is committed to high-quality construction materials and techniques to match the same standards as their for-sale developed communities including thick foam panel walls with extra insulation that reduce utility costs for residents, energy efficient windows and exterior doors, and durable concrete tile roofing. The company plans to own many of its properties long-term as opposed to build and flip.
