Matt Giammanco of AvalonBay Communities | Thanet Circle in Princeton | Choosing the Right Location
Courtesy of AvalonBay Communities
Choosing the Right Location
Matt Giammanco is a Senior Director of Development at AvalonBay Communities, the real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages apartment communities across the nation. He’s based in their New Jersey office and is part of the development team focused on north and central New Jersey. On today’s episode, Matt brings us behind-the-scenes on the Thanet Circle project in Princeton, New Jersey and how they’re changing the landscape of suburban rental housing. We also discuss more broadly how major developers like AvalonBay choose where to develop, and then how they go about building.
“People maybe have a false conception of bigger builders like ourselves that everything’s just kind of a cookie cutter project that goes through a machine and we spit out 200 units, but if only they knew how much we talk internally about all these kinds of decision metrics. It’s something we took a really deep dive on, right?”
Courtesy of AvalonBay Communities
Matt started his career in real estate after graduating from Penn State in 2007. Some might consider that unlucky timing with the Great Recession of 2008/2009 just around the corner, but the skills that he developed during that time served him well during the Covid-19 global pandemic. We talk about the different challenges and responsibilities that he experienced as a developer during these last two years, and how rental demands have shifted as a result of the pandemic.
A great example of this shift is the AvalonBay Thanet Circle development in Princeton, New Jersey. This 221 unit inclusionary rental project has been an opportunity to resolve the lack of existing rental housing in the affluent town. The variety of units is meant to accommodate multiple demographics across the spectrum that don’t typically exist in suburban environments. He shares details of the development strategy, a taste of the finishes and the layouts, and what the financing was like for this project.
We finish our conversation by discussing one of my favorite topics: technology in property development. Matt shares how he’s incorporating technology to interact with prospective tenants and active residents in his day-to-day life. We also talk about some of the innovative technologies in the development and construction industries that Matt is seeing on AvalonBay job sites.
Episode Timestamps
3:54 – Help our listeners understand what you did at Ernst & Young and Goldman Sachs and how that prepared you to move into real estate.
11:17 – Bennett Circle is located in Princeton, New Jersey. Tell us about the area and the site specifically.
12:45 – Let’s dive into how you actually acquired the site and what the entitlements process was like.
20:40 – You mentioned there were a number of players in this process. Are you able to mention the broker, the seller or the other parties?
21:43 – Let's dive into more of the details of the development strategy and talk about numbers along the way.
27:49 – Walk our listeners through this project in terms of what they'll be seeing as they drive up or they walk up. Give us details about the finishes and layout.
31:06 – Help us understand what the money story was behind this project.
39:24 – How does a famous, well-known company like AvalonBay approach development? Explain to us how a development company is structured.
42:52 – How do you choose where you are developing within a city?
45:39 – How do you figure out what it is that you're actually going to be doing on a particular site?
51:31 – What are typical timelines you’re working with?
53:56 – How are you incorporating technology into your day-to-day work?
Connect with Matt Giammanco:
LinkedIn (Matt Giammanco)
LinkedIn (AvalonBay Communities)
AvalonBay Communities
About your host:
Atif Qadir is the Founder & CEO of Commonplace, a technology company making it easy for commercial real estate professionals to find and use the $100B of real estate incentives given out every year in the US.
His work has been covered by Technology Review, The Real Deal, Commercial Observer, and Propmodo. He’s also a frequent speaker on the future of buildings and cities on popular industry podcasts and at conferences, including this past year at the Commercial Observer National DEI Conference, Yale AREA Conference, Columbia Real Estate Symposium, Open Data Week NYC and Austin Design Week.
About Commonplace
Commonplace is a founding sponsor of American Building. It is a 100% minority-owned, real estate technology company founded in 2020 to make financing social impact development projects across the US easier. It is funded by venture capital investors Hometeam Ventures, Park West Asset Management, New York Ventures and Shadow Ventures.
About Michael Graves
The world-famous design firm Michael Graves is also a founding sponsor of American Building. Its namesake, the iconoclastic designer Michael Graves, FAIA was a fierce advocate for people-centric design. His work defines a generation of American architecture and includes the Portland Building, the Humana Building and the Denver Public Library. The 1st season of American Building was filmed live at The Warehouse, his historic home in Princeton, New Jersey:
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