Hot Hues
These colors will wow in 2006.
Don’t get caught designing an apartment community with a color palette that screams 2005. Instead, check out Sherwin-Williams’ 2006 color forecast. This year, nature-inspired hues–think indigo, arresting auburn, and jargon jade–lead the list of five color trend categories that can serve as a springboard for countless décor schemes and themes.
“The natural living collection is at the forefront of everything,” says Becky Spak, senior designer for Color Marketing and Design at Sherwin-Williams, a Cleveland-based paint manufacturer. There’s less of a transition between the indoors and the out, as rooms showcase the bold colors and weathered texture of nature.
The other trendy color categories for this year include the internationally inspired Great Escapes collection with river rouge, kendal green, curry, and smoky topaz; the trendy Fifth Avenue group featuring lush pinks and purples; the calming Relaxed Retreat offering dancing green, lucent yellow, and peach fuzz; and the comforting brown collection with Turkish coffee, mocha, and lightweight beige. (For a complete listing of colors, visit www.sherwin-williams.com.)
Another big trend for ’06: More blue. “The blue family has been neglected the past few years,” says Spak. “While the yellow-green has been tremen-dously strong and continues to grow, we are seeing a little bit more of the bluish green. Look for the blue family to gain prominence.”
–Rachel Z. Azoff
Land of Opportunity
The Hispanic population expands into new regions.
It just might be time to broaden your Hispanic marketing outreach efforts. While still concentrated in key gateway cities and border states, the Hispanic population is moving into new regions. Since 1990, Hispanic communities have increased by more than 50 percent in eight states, according to a new report from Prudential Real Estate Investors. These states are expected to see continued growth between 2005 and 2010.
–Rachel Z. Azoff
Executive Feedback
How do you think the recent public-to-private deals will affect the industry?
A: “I don’t expect the AMLI and Gables sales to materially affect the apartment REIT industry, as ongoing consolidation was already taking place–albeit slowly. I think these transactions were facilitated by historically low interest and cap rates and the opportunity to sell some of the properties to converters. I don’t expect to see a lot more.” –Ron Terwilliger, CEO, Trammell Crow Residential
A: “The broad implications are that multifamily real estate will continue to grow as an attractive real estate investment class over the next five to seven years. The trend will likely continue if the public and private capital markets’ perception of value and long-term performance prospects remain this different.” –Eric Bolton, CEO, Mid-America Apartment Communities
A: “History suggests that public-to-private transactions or private-to-public deals are always dictated by valuation differentials. [Now,] private markets are valuing assets anywhere from 15 percent to 30 percent greater in the private world than in the public markets. The trend 10 years ago was just the opposite. I suspect in the years ahead that the gap between private and public will close again and probably flip to the other side.” –Tom Toomey, president and CEO, United Dominion Realty Trust