An almost 5-acre plot of vacant West El Paso land, which years ago was to be the site of a Miami developer’s proposed $100 million, 22-story residential tower, is now for sale.
The grandiose plan, unveiled in 2016, faded long ago. But The Meyers Group, a Miami real estate development firm, still had a plan for the land: a more low-key, 297-unit apartment complex.
However, that plan, announced last year, has been shelved, and the land was put on the market because this is not a good time to build a new apartment complex in El Paso, said Alan Losada, president of the Meyers Group, which renovated the historic Hotel Paso Del Norte in Downtown El Paso.
“It’s very expensive to build,” and El Paso rents don’t make it financially feasible to build the new apartment complex now, he said.
The company continues to build apartment complexes in Florida because rents have increased enough to make construction financially feasible, Losada said.
Sergio Tinajero, a partner in REPcre, the El Paso real estate agency that has the property listed for an unspecified price, said two potential buyers have shown interest in the property.
Ray Baca, managing partner of Monterrey Asset Management, which is overseeing construction of an investors group's third Las Mansiones apartment complex in El Paso, agreed with Losada. El Paso rent increases have not kept pace with growing construction costs, and that's making developing new projects difficult, he said.
"I can't say if we'll do another (Las Mansiones); it depends on (future) market conditions and construction costs," Baca said.
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Planning started several years ago for the 198-unit Las Mansiones at Eastlake complex in the booming Eastlake Boulevard area of far East El Paso County, and the project had to be "refigured," so it would financially work, he said.
Rents range from $1,378 for a one bedroom to $2,098 for a three bedroom with a garage. Most of the first 52 completed units have been rented, Baca said this week. The entire project is expected to be done by the end of the year.
El Paso market rents increase 7.2%
Even though the developers say rents aren't high enough, data show rents continue to be on the high side for the El Paso market but are beginning to stabilize, said Scott Lynch, executive director of the El Paso Apartment Association.
El Paso apartment rents averaged $1,045 per month in May, the latest data available – 7.2% more than in May 2022, according to a report by ALN Apartment Data, a Dallas-area company tracking apartment data nationwide. El Paso’s apartment occupancy rate was 95.1% in May, down 1% from a year ago.