Matt Giammanco of AvalonBay Communities | Thanet Circle in Princeton | Suburbia Part II
Courtesy of AvalonBay Communities
Suburbia Part II
Garden-style apartments offer residents the best of both worlds: green space and lower density living without the upkeep and price tag of a single-family home. In this episode, I trace back the origins of garden-style apartments and highlight who lives in them now. I also revisit a conversation with developer Matt Giammanco of AvalonBay Communities to discuss Thanet Circle, a new multi-building garden-style apartment complex in Princeton, New Jersey.
Located in a suburban environment that is walkable, bikeable, and in need of rental housing, Matt shares how he and his team chose and developed this project. They saw the opportunity to redevelop a 1980s, vintage office building into a townhome neighborhood with a community clubhouse. Located on 15 acres of land, the four-story buildings are a secluded and quiet place for those looking for rental options in the Princeton area.
We also dive into AvalonBay’s regional approach to development and how they use local, on-the-ground knowledge to ensure the successful completion of their projects. Listen in to learn how this project was financed, redeveloped, and to discuss the technology that is being used today in the development world.
“We’re drawn here because we feel very strongly that the lack of existing rental housing is an opportunity, not just for us, but really an opportunity for the town. When you have median home prices of a million dollars, you’re not going to have a lot of young couples or young couples, dual income, no children, or dual income with children that can afford to be here.”
Courtesy of AvalonBay Communities
Matt Giammanco is a Senior Director of Development at AvalonBay Communities. He previously worked at Goldman Sachs Real Estate Investment Group and began his career at Ernst and Young in their transactions real estate group. He is a graduate of Columbia Business School and Penn State.
Courtesy of AvalonBay Communities
Episode Timestamps
2:26 – What are garden-style apartments?
7:13 – Bennett Circle is located in Princeton, New Jersey. Tell us about the area and the site specifically.
8:41 – Let’s dive into how you actually acquired the site and what the entitlements process was like.
15:37 – You mentioned there were a number of players in this process. Are you able to mention the broker, the seller or the other parties?
16:29 – Let's dive into more of the details of the development strategy and talk about numbers along the way.
22:35 – Walk our listeners through this project in terms of what they'll be seeing as they drive up or they walk up. Give us details about the finishes and layout.
25:52 – Help us understand what the money story was behind this project.
31:09 – How does a famous, well-known company like AvalonBay approach development? Explain to us how a development company is structured.
34:40 – How do you choose where you are developing within a city?
37:27 – How do you figure out what it is that you're actually going to be doing on a particular site?
43:19 – What are typical timelines you’re working with?
45:45 – How are you incorporating technology into your day-to-day work?
Additional Resources
Connect with Matt Giammanco:
LinkedIn (Matt Giammanco)
LinkedIn (AvalonBay Communities)
AvalonBay Communities
Courtesy of AvalonBay Communities
About your host:
Atif Qadir is the Founder & CEO of Commonplace, a technology company making it easy for commercial real estate professionals to find and use the $100B of real estate incentives given out every year in the US.
His work has been covered by Technology Review, The Real Deal, Commercial Observer, and Propmodo. He’s also a frequent speaker on the future of buildings and cities on popular industry podcasts and at conferences, including this past year at the Commercial Observer National DEI Conference, Yale AREA Conference, Columbia Real Estate Symposium, Open Data Week NYC and Austin Design Week.
About Commonplace
Commonplace is a founding sponsor of American Building. It is a 100% minority-owned, real estate technology company founded in 2020 to make financing social impact development projects across the US easier. It is funded by venture capital investors Hometeam Ventures, Park West Asset Management, New York Ventures and Shadow Ventures.
About Michael Graves
The world-famous design firm Michael Graves is also a founding sponsor of American Building. Its namesake, the iconoclastic designer Michael Graves, FAIA was a fierce advocate for people-centric design. His work defines a generation of American architecture and includes the Portland Building, the Humana Building and the Denver Public Library. The 1st season of American Building was filmed live at The Warehouse, his historic home in Princeton, New Jersey:
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