The challenge of cheap markets

Studios for $1,050 a month, one-bedrooms for $1,310 and two-bedrooms for $1,525. Those are actual asking rents for “high end,” downtown, market-rate units in the Erdace Apartments, “the epitome of a luxe residence.” As you might guess, they are not in New York City. They’re in downtown Lake Charles, Louisiana. These markets might as well be on different planets. A developer in Gotham would make a killing if he could build luxury rentals for $160,000 per unit, which in 2018 is what the Erdace Apartments were projected to cost. A developer building at that price in Lake Charles, by contrast, […]

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