Product Profile: MAA

 

INDUSTRY

housing

Category

apartment management and development

product Profiled

apartments managed by MAA

 

H-Score

 

67

ranked 6th of 13 within the housing industry

ranked 15th of 76 overall

 

product description

 

MAA, also known as Mid-America Apartment Communities, is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests in apartment building communities throughout the Southeast, Southwest, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. MAA, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, focuses on acquiring, redeveloping and managing multi-family homes as its main business model. In 2023, the company owned 100,00 apartment units in approximately 300 apartment communities across the country.(1)

 

who’s affected

 

MAA serves people living in urban areas who rent apartments. Their strategy is to offer apartments at a variety of price points.(2) Fifty-seven (57) percent of apartment renters in the US have household incomes of less than $50,000 per year.(3)

 
 

influence on health-related behaviors

 

EATING

slight positive influence

 

Proximity to grocery stores with healthy food options can positively influence eating habits. One metric of a neighborhood’s food environment is whether it is characterized by the USDA as “low access to food stores.”(4) In a sample of MAA locations reviewed by Building H, 5% were in low-access neighborhoods.

 

opportunities:

  • Review the food environment – both access to fresh foods and prevalence of unhealthy food outlets – as part of the decision of where to locate future properties. Use the potential of aggregated demand that a new apartment property would create to encourage investment in local fresh food outlets like grocery stores.
  • Facilitate home cooking through:
    • experimentation with provision of indoor hydroponic gardening appliances
    • establishment of community gardens within properties
    • partnerships to provide discounted memberships to local community-supported agriculture (CSA) farms
    • partnerships to provide discounted grocery delivery services or meal kit subscriptions
    • experimentation with the promotion of food sharing apps to help residents share excess groceries
 
 

PHYSICAL ACTVITY

slight positive influence

 

The walkability of a geographic location has an influence on the physical activity of its residents. In a sample of MAA locations reviewed by Building H, approximately 23% were in neighborhoods rated as “very walkable” or better by Walk Score.(5) Fifty-eight (58) percent of locations were in neighborhoods rated “car-dependent” by Walk Score. Mean Walk Score was 47.3; the median was 44.0. A higher Walk Score rating for a given neighborhood has been associated with increased physical activity among neighborhood residents.(6)

In addition to walkability, a neighborhood’s bikeability can also facilitate physical activity. In a sample of MAA locations reviewed by Building H, 11% were in neighborhoods rated as “very bikeable” or better by Bike Score.(7) 73% of locations were in neighborhoods rated “Somewhat Bikeable” by Bike Score. Mean Bike Score was 44; the median was 39.

MAA notes that renters at select apartment communities have access to a resident bike room with a workbench to support a variety of bicycle care needs, including storage, washing and repair. They also offer courtesy bikes.(8) Eighteen (18) percent of MAA communities reviewed by Building H had bike storage available.

MAA provides a number of amenities that facilitate physical activity in their communities. They offer fitness centers at 98% of a sample of apartment communities reviewed by Building H, swimming pools at 88%, playgrounds at 25%, sports courts at 35% and walking trails at 13% of their communities.

 

opportunities:

  • Review the walkability, bikeability and access to transit of a neighborhood as part of the decision to build or buy in a certain neighborhood. Use the potential of aggregated demand that a new apartment property would create to advocate for and encourage investment in sidewalks and bike lanes, if not already available.
  • Publish data on the walkability, bikeability, and access to transit of property locations.
  • Provide bike sharing and scooter sharing services at properties.
  • Provide bike storage and bike repair facilities at more of its properties.
  • Provide amenities such as fitness centers, playgrounds, swimming pools, parks and walking paths at even more of its properties.
 
 

Sleeping

neutral to slight positive influence

 

MAA seeks to maintain healthy indoor air environments in its communities through regularly replacing HVAC filters, using low-VoC paints and solvents, and prohibiting smoking in their indoor common areas.(9) These measures could improve indoor air quality, which could have a positive influence on sleep as lower indoor air quality has been associated with poorer sleep.(10)

Smoking is associated with poor sleep and designating a community smoke-free discourages smoking among its residents. In addition to prohibiting smoking in indoor common areas, MAA designated 15% of a sample of communities reviewed by Building H as “non-smoking” communities. Eighty-five (85) percent of communities did not have a community-wide no-smoking policy displayed on their webpage.

To the extent that MAA’s locations and property designs influence physical activity and time spent outdoors, they could indirectly influence sleep as both of those behaviors are positively correlated with better sleep.

opportunities:

  • Promote healthy circadian rhythms by installing circadian LED lighting systems that adjust color temperature to mimic natural light throughout the day.
  • Monitor indoor air quality, as it has shown to influence sleep and mitigate where it is poor.
  • Provide smart thermostats and appropriate instructions in order to optimize nighttime temperatures for better sleep.
  • Use soundproofing and other acoustic design techniques, such as sound-absorbing materials, to reduce noise that could interfere with sleep.
 
 

Engaging Socially

slight to moderate positive influence

 

MAA offers amenities at many of its properties that can facilitate social interactions among its residents. These include lounges or other social gathering areas (in 78% of a sample of communities reviewed by Building H), swimming pools (88%), playgrounds (25%), sports courts (35%) and outdoor grills (70%).

Most MAA communities are pet-friendly, incorporating outdoor amenities such as Bark Parks that help to build socialization into the communities’ built environments.

 

opportunities:

  • Engage with residents to understand social interests and develop social programming to foster social interaction and bonding over common interests.
  • Offer indoor and outdoor common spaces – such as lounges, clubhouses, playgrounds, swimming pools, sports fields/courts and outdoor cooking facilities – that facilitate both planned community events and casual social interactions among neighbors at more of its properties.
  • Offer an app for residents to engage with each other and to coordinate plans.
  • Experiment with buddy programs, where longtime residents welcome new residents and help them get situated.
  • Create arbitration/mitigation plans for neighbor disputes.
 
 

Getting Outdoors

slight positive influence

 

Neighborhood walkability is a key driver of spending time outdoors. The walkability of MAA’s locations (discussed above in physical activity) has an influence on how much time its residents spend outdoors. 

Access to public parks can also encourage people to go outdoors. In the sample of MAA locations reviewed by Building H, 45% were within a 10-minute walk from a public park.(11)

The natural environment around one’s home can influence how much time people spend outdoors. In the sample of MAA locations reviewed by Building H, 65% were rated “Nature Rich” or “Nature Utopia” by NatureQuant, an organization that characterizes the natural environment around any location.(12) Twenty-eight (28) percent of MAA’s locations were rated “Nature Light” or “Nature Deficient.” Mean NatureScore was 61.5; the median score 77.4. A higher NatureScore for a given neighborhood has not been directly correlated with more time spent outdoors by its residents, but it has been correlated with many improvements in health outcomes that are consistent with more time spent in nature.(13)

MAA offers a number of amenities that can facilitate outdoor activities. These include playgrounds (in 25% of a sample of communities reviewed by Building H), outdoor grills (70%), dog parks (58%) and sports courts (35%).

 

opportunities:

  • Pursue opportunities noted above related to neighborhood walkability, bikeability and access to transit.
  • Pursue opportunities noted above related to outdoor amenities such as playgrounds, community gardens and walking paths.
 
 
 

Notes

 

  1. About. MAA Communities website, accessed November 10, 2023.

  2. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. 2022 Annual Report, p. 6.

  3. Household Incomes. National Multifamily Housing Council website, accessed November 10, 2023.

  4. The “low-access to food” designation means that a significant portion of residents of the Census tract are more than one mile (if urban) or more than 10 miles (if rural) from the nearest supermarket or large grocery store. See U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Food Access Research Atlas: Measuring Access to Food.

  5. Walk Score is a methodology for assessing the walkability of a location, using a proprietary algorithm that factors in walking proximity to amenities and pedestrian friendliness. Walk Score is based on a scale of 0-100. Locations scoring 49 or under are considered “car-dependent;” Locations scoring 70 or more are rated “very walkable.” Those scoring 90 and above are labeled “walker’s paradise.” See https://www.walkscore.com/methodology.shtml for more on the Walk Score methodology.

  6. E. Twardzik et al. Walk Score and objectively measured physical activity within a national cohort. J Epidemiol Community Health 2019;73:549-556.

  7. Bike Score is a methodology for assessing the bikeability of a location, using a proprietary algorithm that factors in: the presence of bike lanes, hills and destinations; road connectivity; and bike commuting mode share. Bike Score is based on a scale of 0-100. Locations scoring 90 and above are rated “Biker's Paradise,” meaning that daily errands can be accomplished on a bike; locations scoring 70-89 are considered “Very Bikeable,” meaning that biking is convenient for most trips; locations scoring 50-69 are rated “Bikeable,” indicating some bike infrastructure; and locations scoring 0–49 are considered “Somewhat Bikeable,” where there is only minimal bike infrastructure. See https://www.walkscore.com/bike-score-methodology.shtml for more on the Bike Score methodology.

  8. Bike Amenities. MAA Communities website, accessed November 16, 2023.

  9. MAA. 2021 Sustainability Report, p. 28.

  10. Jianhong Liu et al. Air pollution exposure and adverse sleep health across the life course: A systematic review. Environmental Pollution. Volume 262 (July 2020).

  11. Based on a geographical analysis using ParkServe, a tool provided by the Trust for Public Land.

  12. NatureScore is a methodology for measuring the amount and quality of natural elements of any location developed by NatureQuant. NatureScores are on a 0-100 scale and are translated to descriptive assessments using the following code: 0-19.9: “Nature Deficient”; 20-39.9: “Nature Light”; 40-59.9: “Nature Adequate”; 60-79.9: “Nature Rich”; 80-100: “Nature Utopia.” See  Delivering Technology to Assess and Promote Nature Exposure. NatureQuant White Paper. 2020.

  13. NatureQuant (2020).