The Douglas Company Expands Affordable Housing with Lincoln & Gilbert Family Development

Posted on | by Savannah Sokol

Holland, Ohio, April 20, 2023 – The Douglas Company, a general contractor leader, is excited to announce our third multifamily project with owner, Pennrose, LLC. The Douglas Company will oversee the Lincoln & Gilbert Family Housing development, a $9.9 million affordable housing community in Cincinnati, Ohio. Completion is expected in April 2024.

Located in Walnut Hills, the project site was cleared of vacant and dilapidated structures to make room for the 51,847-square-foot development. Lincoln & Gilbert Family Housing will create 50 affordable housing units for individuals and families, with one, two, and three bedrooms. Designed by New Republic Architecture, the buildings will offer a modern look with excellent amenities including a community room, laundry room, on-site management, community spaces, and parking.

“The Douglas Company is proud to continue our work with Pennrose to bring quality living spaces that enrich the communities of Cincinnati,” said Tyler Stout, project manager at The Douglas...

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Protecting wood framing during construction provides peace of mind

Posted on | by Savannah Sokol

As we move into the rainy season, it’s important to revisit best practices of protecting wood from the elements during construction. Previously, we used to rely on just-in-time deliveries which would limit the amount of time our framing materials were subject to the weather prior to being covered up. With today’s market environment, we find ourselves ordering materials early and storing them on site so that we can be productive as we start building and not run out of material along the way. This has led to lumber being stored for longer periods than we are used to.  It’s important that this is taken into consideration as we construct our projects and that we don’t allow deterioration of our building products to occur. 

First, develop a plan early to deal with these issues in order to reduce the risk of mold and product deterioration. Ensure that your storage area is well...

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Good News!

Posted on | by Savannah Sokol

I thought I’d write a blog about some good news, at least for multi-family developers.  No, costs aren’t coming down, nor are interest rates.  But rents for multifamily are going up!  According to rent.com through April 2022 apartment rents nationwide for two bedroom apartments are up 22.8% in a twelve month period.  In some areas that are close to us they are up even more.  Orlando rents are up 38.2%.  Cincinnati is 37.8%.

So while costs are up and interest rates are threatening to rise, rents in many areas more than make up for this, creating opportunity.  Rent.com goes on to say that the shortage of supply coupled with increasing demand and increasing inability of people to purchase homes is causing this phenomenon.

Good news for multifamily developers.  

Peter Douglas

President

...

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“IT’S TOUGH TO MAKE PREDICTIONS, ESPECIALLY ABOUT THE FUTURE”
– Yogi Berra

Posted on | by Bob Ritter

Everywhere I go people are asking what’s going to happen with construction prices, and they are right to ask.  I visited with a prospective client this month and he told me that construction prices on his prototype increased 46% in two years, which was shocking to him and a little surprising to me.  We are tracking prices in our Florida office and our records indicate costs are up 30% in 14 months, 2% per month, so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.  Everywhere we look subcontractors are backing out of quotes and/or raising prices, and even once under contract don’t always honor prices.  Materials and labor availability is a whole other issue.  It’s hard to believe these increases can continue, but I don’t see any signs of relief. 

The above doesn’t make our jobs any easier or more enjoyable.  We hate giving bad news to our clients on costs, but...

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The Grand Opening of the New Eastern Woods Senior Apartment Community

Posted on | by Bob Ritter

The Douglas Company, along with Pennrose, LLC of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Blanchard Valley Health System, celebrated the grand opening during a ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new Eastern Woods Senior apartment community in Findlay, Ohio.

Designed by architectural firm Moody Nolan, Inc., a Columbus, Ohio-based company, the development offers affordable housing to the growing senior population in and around the Findlay, Ohio area.  Eastern Woods Senior consists of 50 senior apartment units in one three-story building, with a total square footage of 49,677. Amenities include elevator service, resident storage, fitness center, on-site management office suite, community gathering space, outdoor patio, and ample on-site parking, all within the peaceful, walkable, amenity-rich Eastern Woods mixed-use campus. The building was designed to meet “Aging in Place” design requirements and achieves LEED Silver standards to ensure energy efficiency.

"The Douglas Company is proud to see this project come to fruition and to...

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The Douglas Company announces construction is underway on the new Eastern Woods Senior affordable housing apartment community in Findlay, Ohio

Posted on | by Bob Ritter

The Douglas Company, an award-winning Toledo, Ohio based general contractor, announces that construction is underway on the new Eastern Woods Senior apartment community,  designed to offer affordable housing to the growing senior population in and around the Findlay, Ohio area. Pennrose Properties, LLC of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is partnering with Blanchard Valley Health System on the new development, scheduled to open in late summer 2021.

Designed by architectural firm Moody Nolan, Inc., a Columbus, Ohio based company, the development will consist of 50 senior apartment units in one three-story building, with a total square footage of 49,677. Amenities include elevator service, resident storage, fitness center, on-site management office suite, community gathering space, outdoor patio, and ample on-site parking all within the peaceful, walkable, amenity-rich Eastern Woods mixed-use campus.

"We are very excited to get started on this project, these apartments will be a much-needed community resource that will help meet...

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Eastern Woods Senior – Award-Winning

Posted on | by Bob Ritter

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Mid-Market Musing

Posted on | by Bob Ritter

I learned early in my career how little I know.  Though we have built more senior living than anyone I know and have been exposed to very successful senior living developers and operators, they all operate differently.  Someone recently said to me, “An expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less until eventually, he knows everything about nothing.” But I don’t think that is the case in my situation.  It’s just that there are a lot of ways to be successful if you know what your Hedgehog Concept is, as Jim Collins would say.

Mid-market became a newer thing a couple of years ago.  They often say what is old is new, and this might be one of those situations.  We, in conjunction with a number of clients, are working on several mid-market concepts.  They hearken back to the eighties when this industry was starting, and people’s...

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The Forgotten Middle

Posted on | by Bob Ritter

A lot of solid data has come out in recent months from NIC regarding the senior middle-income population that will not be able to afford private-pay senior housing and care options, nor will they qualify for Medicaid.  It is concerning because that is such a large percentage of the country’s population.  Per the NIC report, the number of middle-income seniors will nearly double to 14.4 million by 2029.  It is predicted that over half of them will not have the financial resources for senior housing and healthcare as it is priced today.

There was a great session at the NIC conference in Chicago recently discussing this topic.  It is a private sector issue to tackle in regards to developing more affordable housing communities.  It is a public sector issue to tackle by developing tax incentives targeted to the middle market and possibly expanding Medicare coverage as well as subsidy programs to...

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Better, Not Bigger

Posted on | by jyoakam

There is a large need in the senior housing market to develop and build affordable communities. The current economy mandates, due to higher interest rates and high construction costs, the need to design and develop senior facilities that produce better, not bigger, designs. The best senior community operators are looking at downsizing all of their new senior properties to respond to the current market conditions and to increase competition in most markets. As many young Americans are attracted to micro-units, so too will seniors. The key to having an affordable design that will compete in the market is controlling the square footage of the living units, and the common space, while still providing top tier amenities. The Douglas Company is working on developing a prototype design for an assisted living and memory care communities that controls the square footage of the entire building footprint, but still provides a design that feels like...

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