Suburban Housing Reflects a Shift
Niche For Condos, Apartments Seen
By Jessica Brown - The Cincinnati Enquirer

Mason has long been known as a haven for subdivisions. But last year, for the first time in a decade, more apartments and condominiums were built there than single-family homes.

The Warren County city was one of a handful of suburban areas north and east of Cincinnati that saw a surge in apartment and condo building despite a regionwide decline in multifamily construction.

This unusual shift in construction trends reflects two basic factors, experts say.

In some of the more-established suburbs, high land costs and a shrinking pool of big, available tracts has made multifamily projects more attractive to developers.

And even though these communities remain dominated by single-family homes, there's an undercurrent of demand for housing that caters to single people, divorcees, and empty-nesters.

"Condo building is up across the country. It's very, very big," said Allison Dubbs, spokeswoman for the Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati. "We have more single people living on their own in this country than any other time. That's a niche in itself."

Mason issued permits for 155 multifamily units - mostly condos - though November 2005. That's up from 107 through November of 2004.

That also was more than the 133 permits for single-family homes issued through November 2005.

Several other communities also witnessed sharp increases in multifamily construction, including Deerfield Township, Amelia and Loveland in Clermont County.

In Clermont County, multifamily housing permits more than tripled, from 104 units in 2004 to 377 in 2005.

That growth occurred despite a nearly 38 percent decline in multifamily construction in 2005 throughout Southwest Ohio - the steepest drop in five years, according to the Home Builders Association.

Bonnie and Larry Einhorn, both 70, moved in June from a bi-level home in Finneytown - where they have lived for 31 years - to a condo at The Maples at 20 Mile Farm, in Deerfield Township.

"We were thinking about 10 years from now. Not having to do steps. And we thought it was time to have someone else take care of out-of-doors and not have to do it ourselves," said Bonnie Einhorn. "It was nice seeing someone else showel snow and cut grass."

The complex markets itself to empty nesters and active retirees. It has sold more than half of its units to people older than 50.

But Bonnie Einhorn said several younger singles and couples live there, too.

The complex is on Montgomery Road, just north of Fields Ertel Road. Einhorn said she likes the proximity to grocery stores, drug stores, banks and other shopping. She also likes that the complex organizes parties, book clubs and outings for residents.

For builders, multifamily housing can be more lucrative in built-up areas. Instead of building big subdivisions, they tuck high-end condo complexes into nooks and crannies next to desirable shopping districts.

Gregory Nicholls, Mason's chief of building official, attributed the rise in multifamily permits to the increasing cost of land.

"It's just a matter of economics," he said.

About eight to 10 years ago, Mason was annexing land from the township at a relatively low cost. Home building boomed.

But as annexations slowed and the city of about 28,000 was built up, the price of land increased. So now developers are turning toward building higher-density multifamily housing on the remaining open land.

In neighboring Deerfield Township, 63 multifamily unit permits were issued by November 2005 - nearly double the 36 issued by the same time the previous year.

They're all condos - mostly built along major thoroughfares, and many catering to empty nesters and active retirees, said Randy Kuvin, township trustee president.

The new single-family homes in the township tend to be high-end, like the Long Cove subdivision.

"Because property values in Mason and the township have risen...over the last five or 10 years, you may not see as many of the $150,000 to $200,000 single-family subdivisions," Kuvin said. "You'll either see the Home-a-rama subdivisions or the higher-density condo developments."

In Clermont County, building permits for single-family homes were down 2.1 percent. But permits for multifamily homes increased from 104 to 377 by November of 2005, compared with the same period in 2004.

Batavia, Miami and Union townships are seeing most of that multifamily growth, said county building official Ray Sebastian.

Unlike Warren County, Clermont County is seeing more apartments and fewer condos, Sebastian said.

The county is also seeing more mixed-use, planned-unit developments - complexes that have houses, condominiums and apartments.

In hamilton County, Cincinnati has seen a jump in multifamily construction. Multifamily permits increased in the city from 127 in 2004 to 181 in 2005.

But the home-building market seems to be moving to more rural areas, where land is cheaper and traffic isn't so heavy, said Rober Ware, senior planner for Warren County. "People like their elbow room," he said. "A little slice of heaven in the country."