Companies such as 3 Street Financial, AMCAL Multi-Housing, Charles Dunn Company and The Comunidades Group pay more attention to tenants' likes and dislikes and tune into their cultural sensitivities. And for good reason: recent projects peg the U.S. Hispanic population hitting the 60 million-mark by 2020. Other ethnicities served by apartment owners typically include Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese.

What exactly does a mixture of ethnicities in the U.S. mean to the apartment industry? For starters, it means keeping their needs in mind when designing kitchens and bedrooms - if the Hispanics prefer many bedrooms, the Koreans prefer double kitchens. Hispanics eclipse African Americans as the largest minority in the U.S and they typically earn a good deal less than the national average, with a median household income of $34K in 2000. States where most Hispanics live: California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Illinois and New Mexico. Apartment companies should emulate Fortune 500 Companies that are constantly mining their potential consumer base, asking fundamental questions such as what customers want.

3 Street Financial Managing Partner Craig Haskell carves a niche by creating lifestyle communities for Hispanics. Already keying in on Arizona, 3 Street targets Las Vegas and California as well. Haskell knows what Hispanics want from his experience as a landlord. He equates what 3 Street does to specialty ethnic markets: instead of a supermarket catering to Hispanics in a small aisle, Haskell aims whole apartment complexes at the demographic. For instance, Haskell spends $1,500 to $2K/unit for tile instead of carpet, knowing Hispanics' preference. 3 Street provides English language classes, interviewing skills and after-school programs to its tenants - funding these services mostly come out of its operating budgets. 3 Street typically hires a couple, gives them $400 and a free apartment, and has them help foster a sense of community while implementing the various services. 3 Street teams up with Somera Capital Management to acquire low-income apartment communities that can be repositioned and targeted at middle-market Hispanics who can pay higher rents.

AMCAL President Percival Vaz intensifies the company's service- and social-service approach to serving ethnicities. It conducts tenant profiles for each apartment complex and extrapolates the most pressing social service needs. AMCAL then goes out into the community and finds service providers to fund programs to meet the needs. Typical services: after-school care, English language classes and how to access immigration services and health care. AMCAL serves those who typically make between 30% and 60% of the area median income and targets many redevelopment areas. The firm is ready to break ground on two projects in the next month or so: the $25M Los Vientos in San Diego, near PETCO Park and the $13M Brookfield in Oakland, Calif. On the drawing board: a project in Westminster in Orange County, Calif. that likely won't break ground until later this year - it will serve an enclave of Vietnamese. AMCAL also does many rural projects targeting farm workers, who are mostly Hispanic. The company plans a project for the Central Valley and expects to break ground later this year or early 2009. AMCAL typically spends about $15K/project to market to various ethnicities, but Vaz expects to spend closer to $20K/project this year. AMCAL looks to leverage these budgets by joining up with social service providers who can access grants and/or funds on their own.

Director of Investment Sales for West Los Angeles David Eitches sees Korean residents wanting to live and work in the city's Koreatown. Eitches sites double kitchens in apartment complexes that serve Koreans, so they can keep their kimchi and frozen fish separate from their milk and everyday products. Charles Dunn finds that Korean families like to live together, so developers build two-bedroom units to appeal to generations. Since Korean residents like clean environments, hardwood floors and big draped lines that don't get too dusty are appealing. The demographic loves golf, so putting greens on property roofs are an option.

Comunidades Founder Moises "Moe" Vela Jr. believes a cultural divide exists when owners and operators are fearful because of what they don't know. He would know - Vela served as SVP of Multicultural Strategy at United Dominion Trust. Vela sees a lot of owners not wanting to go outside the box, but his research finds that if you don't make the effort, you're going to get the same old results and performance challenges. A value add to one ethnic community may mean something totally different to another. For Hispanics, the key is empowerment and a welcoming and embracing environment. Vela believes it's important to respect Hispanics and their culture through the amenities provided, the staff outlook, the interior designs, as well as understanding who should deliver the marketing message to this demographic.