Feasibility Insights for Apartment Developers

Building Smarter, Safer Apartment Projects: 4 Feasibility Insights Developers Can Use Today

A great feasibility study isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s the cheapest insurance you’ll ever buy. Here are four high-leverage ideas from our feasibility workflow that consistently help developers de-risk projects, design better buildings, and improve long-term value.

1) Decide early: build-to-keep vs. build-to-sell

This one decision cascades through everything—unit finishes, amenity program, parking strategy, lease-up plan, even how you tell the story to lenders and partners.

  • Build-to-sell: Optimize for market appeal and exit value at stabilization. Show the underwriting path clearly, prove depth of market, and highlight revenue drivers buyers pay for.

  • Build-to-keep: Optimize for durability, operating efficiency, and retention. Lean into specs and amenities that reduce churn and maintenance, even if the upfront line item is higher.
    Getting this right at the feasibility stage saves months of redesign later.

2) Use layered data to design a product people actually want

We stack demographics, income distribution, commuting modes, and PRIZM lifestyle segments to define who is most likely to rent at your site—and why. Then we translate that into:

  • Unit mix & sizes (e.g., fewer micro-1-beds, more 2-bed + dens if family households and remote workers dominate).

  • Amenities with intent (right-sized fitness, coworking, pet care, social rooms—only where the profile supports rent).

  • Parking math, not guesses (modes-of-travel and target resident profiles drive stall counts so lease-up doesn’t stall for lack of stalls).

The outcome: a building purpose-built for likely renters, at rents the market will actually pay.

3) Model affordability strategically (where it helps—not hurts)

CMHC’s affordable programs can improve your total return if you’re surgical. We typically allocate affordability to smaller unit types so the NOI impact is minimized, then compare:

  • Conventional rents vs. a blended affordable set-aside,

  • Against financing terms (construction interest rate, amortization, leverage).
    In many cases, financing improvements can more than offset reduced top-line rent on the set-aside—unlocking a better overall outcome without compromising your project’s core revenue units.

4) Don’t let lease-up parking mistakes crush NOI

Two common errors we fix early:

  1. Under-building parking for the actual renter profile (based on data, not bylaw minimums alone).

  2. Giving away too many stalls early to smaller units, leaving family-sized or premium units unparked and therefore unrentable.
    A feasibility-driven parking plan protects absorption, keeps larger units moving, and preserves asset value.

Bottom line

Better inputs → better decisions. Use feasibility to answer the five essentials early:
Should I build? What should I build? How much rent can I charge? What’s the depth of market? What’s the stabilized value?
That clarity drives design, financing, lease-up—and ultimately the price someone will pay (or the return you’ll enjoy) at stabilization.

Talk feasibility with Dave

If you’re considering a site—or rethinking an existing design—connect with Dave Price to see how a feasibility study from Rock Advisors can de-risk your plans and sharpen your numbers.

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