Like to Rent in Luxury? Three North Texas Cities Rank High in Amenity-Rich Apartment Living

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Plano ranked third nationally among cities that have built mostly luxury rentals over the past decade. (Opal Legacy Central)

If you’re looking for a luxury rental, the Dallas-Fort Worth area has emerged as a prime market for people with an appetite for amenity-rich living.

According to StorageCafe, Plano, Irving, and Dallas are ranked third, sixth, and seventh among the top 10 cities that mostly built luxury rentals over the past decade – not surprising given the wave of corporate locations to North Texas.

Yardi Matrix defines luxury apartments in a property-rating categorization from A+ to D, closely following the grading system we got on school report cards. You don’t want to live in a D-rated property very long, but an A+ means you’re living high on the hog.

Luxury apartments typically offer generous floor plans and amenities such as culinary lounges with a full kitchen and pizza ovens, resort-type pools, sky-deck clubrooms, and co-working spaces.

Plano ranked first among Texas cities and third nationally. In the past decade, 98.5 percent of Plano’s 8,336 apartments can be categorized as luxury. Apartments average 945 square feet with amenities that include pools, tennis courts, electric-vehicle charging stations, and co-working spaces.

Irving ranked sixth with 97 percent of its 5,629 apartments built since 2012 showcasing top-rated amenities.

Since 2012, seventh-place Dallas built 55,297 apartments with 96 percent fitting the luxury description.

Nationally, Arizona cities Gilbert and Chandler ranked 1-2 with Scottsdale fourth.

“As preferred relocation destinations massively attracting young professionals – tech talent in particular – both Texas and Arizona have amped up their construction games in the major urban hubs and their feeder cities,” Doug Ressler, Business Intelligence Manager at Yardi Matrix, said in the study.

Behind The Curve on Construction

Harold Hunt

Harold Hunt, a research economist at the Texas Real Estate Research Center, said he believes Texas is behind the curve in new apartment construction.

“I base that thought on a year-over-year increase in average apartment rents in Texas that is just under 20 percent,” Hunt said. “Permits and deliveries here in Texas have been fairly flat over the past several years, although Texas continues to be popular for out-of-state migrants. So, currently, demand is far outstripping supply.”

In Texas, Hunt said he doesn’t think the range of amenities has changed in any meaningful way in Texas since the pandemic.

“However, there has been a long-term trend toward more Class A construction and less Class B units,” Hunt said.

What is StorageCafe? StorageCafe is a nationwide storage space marketplace powered by Yardi. 

Report review: StorageCafe has come up with another big rabbit hole to explore rentals in the Dallas-Fort Worth real estate market. Block out plenty of time to take a deep dive into this report.  🐇🐇🐇🐇

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Marlin Weso is a freelance writer based in North Texas.

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