Will suburban apartment market stay hot?

Marah Development’s plans for a 491-unit multifamily housing project in Noblesville’s Corporate Campus aren’t surprising, given the red-hot apartment market in central Indiana.

Occupancy rates in the Fishers and Noblesville area almost reached 95 percent last year, according to local apartment brokerage and advisory firm Tikijian Associates, and developers have $94 million in apartment projects planned for Fishers alone.

Still, getting the Noblesville Common Council to OK Marah’s Chapel Pointe preliminary proposal was hardly a sure thing.

Council members tabled discussion of the project twice this year before approving it in a 5-1 vote. They expressed concerns over housing density, property aesthetics and the cost of providing city services to the community planned for the southwest corner of Promise Road and Greenfield Avenue.

The city hopes the $40 million project, which will include apartment and townhouses renting for $800-$1,600 a month, will help draw commercial development to the shovel-ready Corporate Campus—and boost existing businesses.

“More rooftops usually increase the success rates of close or adjacent retail development, so additional multifamily housing in that area should have an impact,” Noblesville Planning Director Christy Langley told IBJ.

Tikijian Associates principal George Tikijian, who was not familiar with the Chapel Pointe proposal, said it remains to be seen how the apartment market will respond to the growing inventory—especially as single-family housing rebounds.

“It’s pretty strong now, but by the time [new units] are delivered in two years or whatever, will we still be saying that?” he asked.

What do you think? Is there enough demand from apartment dwellers North of 96th to justify the building boom?