December 28, 2017

Dupre + Scott closing shop after 38 years of research

Mike Scott had previously confided to the DJC and other real estate insiders that his namesake research firm would close at year's end. For that reason, his typically wise remarks at October's Washington Apartment Outlook luncheon carried extra weight and solemnity — like the farewell address of a great statesman.

Scott

Dupre

This week, he and Patty Dupre, his wife and business partner, made the news official with a press release. Dupre + Scott Apartment Advisors will cease to gather apartment-related information and issue its widely read reports.

“This was a difficult decision to make,” they wrote. “We have been doing this research for 38 years thanks to the support we have received from our subscribers, clients, and participants. We are honored that they have put so much trust in us, and our work.

“In return, we have been passionate about providing the best possible research, and have enjoyed knowing so many wonderful people over the years.

“So it is with mixed emotions that we are closing our business. But after analyzing sales almost daily for 38 years for the Investment Report, 35 years of surveys for the Vacancy Report, and… well, you get the idea, it's time for us to move on.”

Dupre and Scott founded the firm in 1979, and married three years later.

In 1979, they note there were just over 80,000 market-rate apartment units in the Puget Sound region. That was before Amazon, when Microsoft and Starbucks were young, small companies.

During our current boom times, there are more than 300,000 units. Scott estimated in October that 12,000 units would be created this year, 14,500 next year and 20,000 in 2019. He further predicted we would soon exceed the last market peak of apartment production, which was in 1989.

Scott did warn in October of a softening market, tinged with oversupply and rent concessions for the next two years, but this week's statement ended on an optimistic note.

“We like to travel, hike, ride our mountain bikes and cook,” said Dupre and Scott, who also love foreign cinema, jazz and the arts. “Now we will have more time to pursue those and other interests.”