Before a single suite is leased, someone has to know what the market is actually charging. Blair and Co. produced a comprehensive rental market competitive analysis for a new purpose-built rental development in Edmonton, benchmarking 17 competing projects across the downtown and inner-city trade area so the development and leasing teams had a complete picture of the competitive landscape before opening day.

The research covered every dimension a leasing team needs to make confident decisions. Lease pricing across studio, one bedroom, two bedroom, and three bedroom units with low, high, and average rents, average square footages, and price per square foot for each. Additional costs including parking, pet fees, and utilities across the full competitive set. Building and suite amenity standards, location scores, and active promotions running across the market. Absorption data tracking how quickly competing projects were leasing up and how many units remained available. And a consumer analysis drawing on census data and segment profiling to identify the renter groups most likely to lease in the trade area, what unit types and price ranges they preferred, and what qualities they prioritized in a rental building.

The result was a single reference document that gave the development team everything they needed to set rents, structure their unit mix, benchmark their amenity package, and identify the right tenant segments to target all before a lease was signed.