Rachel Chabalewski and Fran Lenahan had just pulled into town after driving from Illinois. They were tired and stressed. Then they found out the condominium they had signed a lease for a month earlier wasn’t ready.
It was 5:15 p.m. on a Friday, and they didn’t have any place to live. By sheer luck, Chabalewski said, there was a cancellation at Steeplechase apartments and they were able to move into the complex the next day.
Had there not been that cancellation, the couple, both 24, would have had to live in a hotel for the past month.
“We realized the first time we looked here, there were few options” for rental units, Chabalewski said.
She is not alone. Over the past 10 years, demand for rental units has risen in the James City and Williamsburg area while supply has remained steady. A low vacancy rate is considered to be 2 percent or less of all rental units, say those familiar with the housing industry.
Currently, there’s a minuscule – 0.2 percent – rental vacancy rate in James City and Williamsburg, of the 3,768 apartment units.
“Definitely, the rental market is very tight,” said Rick Hanson, James City Housing and Community Development director. “Most apartment complexes have waiting lists and turnover is immediate.”
The causes for the problem can be blamed on an increasing population. While the area has seen burgeoning residential growth – James City is the 10th fastest growing locality in the state – the number of apartment units has not grown much in 10 years, Hanson said. Steeplechase, the last conventional apartment complex in James City, was built in 1986. Rolling Meadows appeared 10 years later. That’s a tax credit project with income limits for residents.
According to the county’s Comprehensive Plan, 32 apartments were added between 1990 and 1995. During that same time, 2,240 single-family homes were built.
Lafayette Apartments, a collection of three rental properties totaling 250 units off Longhill Road, has boasted a 100 percent occupancy rate for the past six months.
“The demand is very high,” said Lori Ross, manager of Lafayette Apartments.
The James City County complex, which has an income requirement, has a waiting list nearly 40 people long.
On one occasion, Ross called all the other rental buildings in the area to help a man find a place to live. She found only two units vacant.
The same holds true at Steeplechase, a 220-unit complex, off Monticello Avenue in the county. Apartments there currently are reserved until the end of the summer and there are about 25 people on a waiting list.
“It’s been like this for five or six years,” said Lori Gutzwiller, community manager at Steeplechase.
While James City and Williamsburg have a 0.2 percent vacancy rate, the Hampton Roads area, including Southside and the Peninsula, has a 3.6 percent vacancy rate for a total of 76,429 apartments, according to Carolinas Real Data, an agency in Charlotte, N.C., that provides reports on the apartment market.
Research also shows rental prices in James City County and Williamsburg are slightly higher than nearby localities. The average for a two-bedroom apartment is $626 per month. In Hampton Roads, the average monthly rental rate for a two-bedroom apartment is $586, according to Carolinas Real Data.
Hanson says rental rates in James City County will likely increase as new apartments are built and the older apartments are renovated in order to compete for tenants. That will add stress to the availability of affordable housing in the area.
“Rents have been increasing, particularly over this year,” Hanson said.
While Hanson has answered more calls to his office from apartment hunters frustrated by the situation, he isn’t worried – yet. That’s because more than 300 apartment units are planned for development in James City County.
Many of those units will be available for rent in the next year. Brad Waitzer, president of Mopow LLC, is building a 268-unit luxury apartment community off News Road, called Monticello at Powhatan. He plans to have the first phase of construction done by the end of this summer.
He hasn’t marketed the property, yet he’s gotten calls from people interested in living in the new development. A two-bedroom apartment in Monticello at Powhatan will start at $895 per month.
“I’ve never seen property have so much interest this early in the game,” said Waitzer, a developer of more than 2,000 apartment units throughout Hampton Roads.
He chose to build in James City because of several factors – mainly because demand is high and the supply of units is low.
“The vacancy rate is negligible,” he said. “Market studies show there was tremendous pent-up demand.”
The flip side – a high vacancy rate – would be detrimental for the area, Hanson said.
“We don’t want to see high vacancy rates because that causes problems also,” he said.
A positive side to the low vacancy rate James City is experiencing is an increase in home ownership, Hanson said. People are entering the county’s home ownership programs because rents are increasing and available apartments are difficult to find, he said.
To fix the problem, Hanson says government leaders need to evaluate whether enough land in the county is zoned for multi-family use.
County Supervisor Jim Kennedy has heard a few complaints from people frustrated by the situation but said in his five months in office, there have been no proposals to build affordable apartment complexes.
“It worries me, but no one has come forward to build any,” he said. “I haven’t seen any proposals come forward that will alleviate the problem.”
Kara Vick can be reached at 229-3784 or by e-mail at kvick@dailypress.com
