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John Akin
Chief Investment Officer, Gables Residential
Age: 48
Industry experience: 15 years
John Akin oversees Gables Residential’s growth strategy for Greater Boston. The Atlanta-based multifamily developer, which completed new apartment complexes in Westwood and Watertown in the past three years, is raising its profile with the scheduled March 2020 completion of the 23-story, 307-unit Gables Seaport tower at 501 Congress St. in Boston’s Seaport District. Gables has made Greater Boston a critical part of its growth strategy, as it looks to acquire development sites in Boston and inner suburbs. Prior to joining Gables in 2017, Akin served as a top executive at Flournoy Cos., a Georgia-based multifamily investor.
Q: What are the differences between Gables’ business model and that of Flournoy Cos.?
A: They’re very different models. Flournoy is a private, family-owned company that’s been around for 50 years. When I was there, we were 90 percent in the merchant-build mode, mostly in secondary and tertiary Southeast markets, from Texas to the Carolinas. So, we’d build with a partner, capitalize it and sell it upon stabilization, whereas Gables is a private REIT but used to be a public company – so, a large institutional developer of class A properties in primary markets. We’re in nine markets across the country with a build-and-hold strategy.
Q: What’s Gables growth strategy for Greater Boston: development, acquisitions, property management or a combination?
A: All of the above. We have not done many acquisitions where pricing is in the real estate cycle. We find more value in the development strategy in the core. We love Boston. We like the dynamics of terms of the workforce and the employment that is coming. We entered the market in a partnership with Hanover Cos., and obviously the Seaport property is a more urban play, but we’re all about live-work-play wherever we go. We have a high concentration of urban properties but will look at inner-ring suburban deals as well.
Q: How important is transit access to your site selection?
A: It’s important. Getting to the jobs, transportation to the job whether it’s via public transit or the interstates, it’s probably the most important factor. Jobs drive apartment demand.
Q: How did the Gables Seaport opportunity come together for you and The Drew Cos.?
A: It’s a joint venture with The Drew Cos. They had done Waterside Place phase one next door and had the site for Gables Seaport under control, and were in need of an equity partner. Fortunately, we had [Development Director] Joseph Shea in Boston and through his networks and relationships, connected with The Drew Co. And we hit it off as like-minded companies.
Q: Will Gables Seaport be working with a short-term corporate rental provider?
A: We don’t have one in the Seaport as of yet, but there are several expressing interest. We have 60 properties across the portfolio and five that have short-term corporate housing providers. We’ve also got Gables Corporate Accommodations in-house.
Q: Is this a challenging time to be leasing up a new luxury tower in Boston?
A: We don’t think so. There have been 2,800 units absorbed from the second quarter of 2018 through second quarter of 2019, which translates into 6,700 units annualized across Boston, so we think there’s plenty of demand. There’s not a lot of supply behind it, so we feel pretty good about the long-term prospects.
Q: Life science developers have been winning many of the recent development sites in parts of Boston, so where are the opportunities for a multifamily developer to compete?
A: They sure are, and that’s great from a jobs perspective. We’re hoping a few of those life sciences sites become mixed-use, and we have the opportunity to put some multifamily in them. Certainly in the central business district, there’re still plenty of opportunities, and we think there’re some good suburban pocket opportunities as well. We’re not the type of group that’s going to crank out 10 deals a year in Boston, so we’re looking for one or two key opportunities.
Akin’s Five Favorite Holiday Movies:
- It’s a Wonderful Life
- A Christmas Story
- Elf
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas (original version)
- The Family Man
