SOUTHEAST SNAPSHOT, AUGUST 2006

Augusta Multifamily Market

Availability of land in the Augusta is a strong attraction for most commercial real estate developers. The city has a growing population due to its affordability of housing. The U.S. Army’s Fort Gordon military base, the Signal Corps headquarters, employs the most people in the city and is also a strong draw for the multifamily housing market. Fort Gordon employs more than 17,000 people, and more than 27,000 military retirees call Augusta home. The Medical College of Georgia, University Hospital, Avondale Mills, E-Z-Go Textron, International Paper Company, Thermal Ceramics, and the city and local school system also employ a large number of Augusta’s residents.

“The Augusta area is witnessing a lot of multifamily development,” says Walter Sprouse Jr., executive director of the Augusta Economic Development Authority. “Development is being seen in all parts of the market including southern Richmond County, Columbia County, and across the river in Edgefield County, South Carolina.” Augusta’s multifamily market is in demand due to its relatively low cost of living and low housing costs. The cost of living in the Augusta MSA is 82.7 percent of the national average according to Sperling’s Best Places, and the average housing cost in Augusta is 52.3 percent of the national average. Augusta is also located equidistance from the Southeast’s transportation center, Atlanta, and the Southeast’s financial center, Charlotte, North Carolina.

“The local consolidated government of Augusta-Richmond County recently voted to sell a prime piece of waterfront property along the Savannah River downtown to The Foxfield Company of Bluffton, South Carolina, for the construction of luxury, high-rise condominiums,” Sprouse says. “The new $80 million riverfront project, The Watermark, will attract a variety of tenants, especially retirees, and will spur even more growth in the Augusta market in the months and years to come,” Sprouse says. According to Sprouse, the ‘halfback’ market is very prevalent in Augusta, targeting Northern retirees that previously retired to Florida, but want to leave and get ‘halfway back’ to the North.

Augusta is looking to expand its multifamily market as well as its other property types in the future. “The Interstate 20 corridor provides the best opportunity for growth,” Sprouse says. “McDuffie County to the west, Columbia and Richmond counties in the center, and Aiken and Edgefield counties in South Carolina to the east all have great opportunities for development.”

With an area population of 500,000, and a workforce of more than 200,000, Augusta has a strong and stable labor pool for businesses. This provides a strong market for the multifamily housing in the area. Of course, everyone knows about the Masters golf tournament played in Augusta on a yearly basis. But, Augusta has much more to offer than that. This business and industrial city continues to grow as its central location and low cost of living provide excellent opportunities for the future.

— Daniel Beaird 

©2006 France Publications, Inc. Duplication or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization from France Publications, Inc. For information on reprints of this article contact Barbara Sherer at (630) 554-6054.