Brad Korman Talks Ground-Up Development and the Rise of the Renter by Choice in Multifamily Dive

The defining shift in American housing isn't who has to rent - it's who chooses to. "Renting by choice is really taking over the world," says Korman Communities Co-CEO Brad Korman in a new Q&A with Multifamily Dive, the national publication covering the apartment industry. It's a shift our fifth-generation, family-owned company is now building from the ground up.

For more than a century, we've invested in, developed, and operated premium residential real estate under our AVE and AKA brands. Recently we've done so with Ensemble Investments (AVE Santa Clara in Silicon Valley and Philadelphia's Navy Yard) and RXR (AVE Paradise Valley in Arizona, AVE Hamilton Green in White Plains, New York, and a new Denver community) - with Korman involved from planning and design through operation.

Now we're returning to our roots as an initiator of ground-up development. At AVE Horsham, which broke ground this spring in suburban Philadelphia, Korman is leading the full process - sourcing the site, securing development rights, and assembling the team, including partners RXR, Chuo-Nittochi, and Goodman Properties and builder CBG Building Company. More is coming: SEPTA recently selected Korman Communities, with Benchmark Real Estate, for a transit-oriented AVE community at the Ambler train station in Montgomery County, steps from downtown Ambler.

In the Q&A, Brad opens up the developer's playbook: before committing capital, the underwriting starts with one test - how many jobs sit within one, three, and five miles of the site, and is that number growing? People rent close to where they work, so transit, retail, and walkability matter only after the jobs test passes. He explains why we pass on 60 to 80 deals for every one we start, and how we de-risk a five-to-seven-year timeline - from land through zoning, permits, design, and construction to stabilization - so our capital, and our partners', is never at risk. He also reflects on running a family business, where a trip to the office can mean lunch with his father, brothers, and sons.

What we develop and own, we operate. That's AVE, our multifamily brand of Class A and AA communities, which is typically the best in its markets, with resort-style amenities and the choice of a traditional unfurnished lease or a fully furnished, move-in-ready home for a flexible stay of a month or more. Every resident gets the same hospitality-driven service and genuine sense of community. "I love it when I go to a property and I'm talking to people and they tell me that they feel taken care of, they feel like the team knows them, and that this is their home and their life is simpler here and they're living so much better," Brad says. "That makes me feel really happy." Without knowing it, those residents are echoing the promise our company was built on: Live Better. Our AKA brand extends that promise to luxury hotel residences in the world's great cities, and may become another avenue for ground-up development. Because we develop, own, and operate as one company, every decision is made by the same people who will care for residents there for decades - the Korman difference.

Read the full Q&A at Multifamily Dive: Renting by choice 'is really taking over the world': Korman Communities CEO