This growing multifamily developer delivers essential housing across the U.S.
By Real Leaders
Grubb Properties is on a mission to make a meaningful impact on America’s housing crisis. The 2024 Real Leaders Impact Award winner was founded in 1963 to create housing and ownership opportunities for those who had been redlined from homeownership by banks practicing a form of loan discrimination. Today it continues to focus on housing accessibility through strategic investing, development, leasing, and property management.
The company’s national Link Apartments brand caters to those in the middle of the income spectrum, targeting communities between new luxury developments and subsidized affordable housing. Grubb Properties is one of few companies in the country to focus solely on this critical market sector.
“We are committed to continuing to improve economic and social mobility for those living in our Link Apartments and to continue to expand housing options in urban areas in America,” CEO Clay Grubb tells Real Leaders.
He attributes the company’s success in part to having a 10-year plan that inspires and guides his team. As for another key?
“We’re proud of our company culture,” Grubb says. “Working together has always been part of our vision, and this year, our engagement surveys had over 99% of our team members saying they work really well together as their team, and over 99% of our folks said that they would recommend working as part of the Grubb Properties team.”
As proponents for alternative transportation, Grubb Properties minimizes its number of parking spots, aiming to stay below one space per apartment on average, as well as to maximize the number of EV charging stations installed in its communities. Its latest multifamily community, 104-unit Link Apartments CYKEL in Charlotte, North Carolina, promotes a car-free lifestyle through a biking-forward design that includes a ground-floor cycle center. The location, next to the Stewart Creek Greenway, bus route, and streetcar line, and a mile from uptown Charlotte, also encourages alternative forms of transportation. Sustain Charlotte recognized it with its Inspiring Building Project award in 2022.
“It’s a great representation of Grubb Properties’ commitment to help solve the housing crisis through creative solutions,” Grubb says. “Reducing development costs is key for private developers like us to be able to build housing that’s more affordable to more people — and building and maintaining parking is far more expensive than many realize. By avoiding the costs of building parking for this new development, we are able to dedicate 50% of the units to be affordable — without using any public subsidy.”
Grubb Properties has integrated environmental, social, and governance priorities across the company’s departments and teams, identifying risks and opportunities in its investments, developments, and operations and management processes, as outlined in its annual ESG report. The company’s six key ESG initiatives are: housing affordability, environmental stewardship, business ethics and integrity, transportation innovation, responsible supply chain, and community engagement.
“I believe that a positive impact creates the greatest long-term success for our company and our community,” Grubb says. “If you can dream and do — and put those two together — I think you can make a meaningful impact in the world.”
Measuring Impact
Grubb Properties tracks two primary metrics to measure its impact on the housing crisis and its success in developing sustainable buildings:
Number of apartments
3,788 Link Apartments units completed, with 4,600 more units in process
Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark
68/100: 2023 standing investment benchmark
89/100: 2023 development benchmark
97% of Grubb’s multifamily properties have earned or are pending a green certification
