What has been the impact of the economy on apartments in Rhode Island?
O’LEARY: As mentioned, many apartment owners are experiencing greater challenges in maintaining profitability. Still other apartment owners, who would like to upgrade their units and buildings, find that the requisite financing to undertake the desired capital projects is unavailable. These apartment owners, left in some cases with a relatively dated product, are losing residents to many newer properties, including converted condominiums and lofts, constructed during the recent housing bubble. The ultimate fallout of this development over-saturation still remains to be seen. One prevailing constant in the apartment industry over the past 20 months seems to be an unusually high tenant-turnover. PBN: What has been the response from apartment owners? O’LEARY: Like any challenging time, this sluggish economy has provided an opportunity for – and in several instances, compelled – apartment owners to reinvent the way that they do business. The result has been, in our opinion, elevated standa
