The apartment development market has slowed, with apartment starts falling each month. But some of the industry’s most-seasoned builders are still closing deals for new projects.

For instance, in December, Dallas-based JPI completed land purchases in Ft. Worth and Lewisville, Texas. 

While the financial environment forced the closing processes to take one to two months longer than they would have in years past, JPI should be rewarded by delivering new projects into a fairly favorable market, JPI’s Senior Vice President of Development Miller Sylvan told Multifamily Dive. 

“It does feel like if you're starting today and delivering units in 2025 and 2026, you're delivering in a time where we certainly believe demand will be outpacing supply,” Sylvan said. “And so we feel great about the deals that we're able to get started now and the window in which they'll deliver in.”

Jefferson Marketplace

The Lewisville, Texas, land will be used for Jefferson Marketplace, a five-story wrap development that will include approximately 380 units.

Dallas-based commercial real estate firm Weitzman and grocery store chain Kroger owned the land where Jefferson Marketplace sits. They contributed the land value as equity in the deal.

“Our residents look for and love these horizontal mixed-use areas where they can walk to restaurants and a Kroger next door,” Sylvan said. “I think that will be a big appeal for our residents.”

Jefferson Marketplace will include 7,700 square feet of ground-floor retail and live-work units that face a 1-acre park. “For folks that want to run a small business out of it or work from home, those are just unique units that I think will do really well there,” Sylvan said.

Jefferson Eastchase

In Ft. Worth, JPI is slated to build Jefferson Eastchase, a 398-unit walkup community near Interstate I-30 and less than 30 minutes from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. It is slated to be JPI’s fourth workforce project.

“It's in a pocket that doesn't have much new product,” Sylvan said. “We think a new, nicer product will be very well received there. We think it will pull from folks who work in Ft. Worth and folks who work in Arlington. We’re right between those.”

While Jefferson Eastchase may carry the attainable or workforce label, Sylvan said JPI obtains financing and goes through approvals and design in exactly the same manner that it would with a higher-end project.

“It's the same bank and same equity shops that we show our market-rate deals to that are looking at our attainable housing deals,” Sylvan said.

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