Hathaway Completes 4 Projects in Gulf Coast to Take Advantage of GO ZONE Benefits, High Demand for Apts.

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorAtlanta–Hathaway Construction Co., Inc. recently completed four GO Zone apartment projects on the Gulf Coast. The four projects, Ansley Walk in Lafayette, La., Ansley Place (pictured) in Houma, La., Stone Ridge at Somerby Park in Mobile, Ala. and The Vinings at Spanish Fort in Spanish Fort, Ala., are all Class A, garden-style apartment communities featuring a total of 1,045 units. The U.S government created a number of tax incentives for investors and builders building along the Gulf Coast after the area experienced massive damage and destruction due to the hurricanes Katrina and Wilma. The Congress passed the Gulf Opportunity Act of 2005, which is also known as the Go Zone act. In January of 2008, construction began on Ansley Walk. The 242-unit project had delays such as Hurricane Humberto, Hurricane Gustav, and rare occasions of sleet and snow during the project with an already compressed schedule. The project features one-, two- and three-bedroom units with rents ranging from $740 and $1,190. The property started leasing in August 2008 and is currently 33 percent occupied. The company expects occupancy to be 98 percent by October of 2009.“Hathaway wanted to be in this location to take advantage of the go zone tax credits,” Jennifer Church of Hathaway Development Co., tells MHN. “Also, the cities where these projects are built are saturated with high demand for apartments. So it made sense for Hathaway to enter these markets.” The 246-unit Ansley Place began construction in February of 2008. Project Manager, Brandon Waters and site superintendent, Patrick Frohling also had the task of building through the abnormal weather conditions and the GO Zone schedule constraints. In fact, Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel was actually stationed in Houma during Hurricane Gustov. This project also features one-, two- and three-bedroom units with rents ranging from $740 to $1,190. The property started leasing in August 2008 and is currently 33 percent occupied and Hathaway expects it to 98 percent occupied by July of 2009.Hathaway completed construction on the 317-unit Stone Ridge at Somerby and Vinings at Spanish Fort for third-party clients. Stone Ridge faced tremendous rain delays and the 240-unit Vinings at Spanish Fort, which features resort-style amenities dealt with more than 10 occasions of rain each totaling two inches or more; which caused major delays in construction of the site infrastructure.