Market to Watch…Manhattan, KS
The other Manhattan - Manhattan KS - is a market that is off the radar for most investors and national media sources. Unlike Charlotte, which is gaining tremendous national attention, Manhattan, Kansas (“The Little Apple”) is in the beginning stages of its growth and has not warranted large scale attention…yet. There is great growth potential in Manhattan, and locating a strong emerging market before national attention is being paid to it offers great opportunity for a solid, long-term real estate investment. Manhattan may not have all of the amenities and Southern charm that Charlotte offers, but it does offer the most important factor, job/population growth. Manhattan is expected to double its population over the next four years! – from 49,000 to just under 100,000. Fort Riley military base is located in Manhattan, and from now through 1012 the base is experiencing a large expansion. This expansion creates military family housing demand well into 2012, and major economic and job growth over the next four years and beyond. The US Army expects 40,000+ troops/personnel/dependents to arrive in Manhattan from now through 2012.
In addition to this large and expanding military base, Manhattan is a classic college town where Kansas State University is located. The University brings with it a population of 23,000 students from all 50 states, many of which require rental housing. The growth for this market is tremendous, and best of all, the population explosion is well planned by the US government and therefore much more dependable then most emerging markets. Please find related links below.
- Manhattan Chamber of Commerce - http://www.manhattan.org/
- Manhattan Homepage - http://www.ci.manhattan.ks.us/
- CNNMoney.com – “Best Places to Retire Young” - http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/moneymag/0703/gallery.bp_retireyoung_new.moneymag/9.html
- Strategic Action Plan and Growth Impact Assessment - http://www.manhattaned.org/DocumentView.asp?DID=291
- Downtown Redevelopment Project - http://www.fs-bd.com/files/Downtown.pdf
- The August edition of the Fort Riley Community Update - http://www.ci.manhattan.ks.us/archives/68/August%2007%20newsletter.pdf - states that 3000 troops will be deployed from the base in the coming month, but that large numbers of troops will return to Fort Riley next summer.The report goes on to say: ‘But our astute observers report - our local schools are still filling up, and all the housing under $140K is being bought up very quickly. What’s going on? Well, the truth is that a good portion of Families will remain on Fort Riley even after the soldiers deploy. The last time we checked, about 70% of our Families choose to remain on Fort Riley when their Soldier deploys.When community and Fort Riley support is perceived being strong, more Families choose to stay right here. Our leaders certainly want that, because we can take better care of Families when they are here.’ In his address to Congress on Friday, President Bush announced that reductions in US troop levels in Iraq would start seven months sooner than scheduled, with 5700 forces to be home by Christmas instead of in the spring.
Earlier in the week it was announced that four brigades (at least 21,500 troops) will return by July 2008. These facts support the prediction of a significant increase in the demand for housing in the Fort Riley area next summer.
