While most St. Louis suburban areas have performed well in terms of vacancy and rent growth, Downtown St. Louis has struggled. Downtown vacancies are higher than any other neighborhood, at about 16%. Rents last year declined and are stagnant to begin 2021, while almost all other St. Louis areas posted rent growth.

Suburban areas such as Mid County, West County, and St. Charles County maintain vacancy levels below 8%, about half the amount of vacant space in comparison to Downtown. On the rent growth side, each of the aforementioned areas continues to post rent growth over the past 12 months, whereas rents Downtown have slightly declined.

Developer confidence in the suburbs is higher right now. This is reflected in the shift in pipeline away from Downtown development, as suburban apartments have posted lower vacancy levels and stronger rent growth. However, should St. Louis’ Downtown apartment fundamentals begin to recover and current demographic trends driving residents away from Downtown change, it’ll be only a matter of time before Downtown St. Louis is once again a focal point for multifamily development.

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