Gulf Shores, Ala. — (GSN) —  The City of Gulf Shores, and locations south of the ICW bridge, have experienced  rising rental rates in the past few years. The cost in temporary housing has fueled the explosion in apartment construction north of the Intracoastal Waterway.

Apartment living is not only gaining ground in south Baldwin County, renters accounted for nearly 80% of total household growth nationally in 2025, according to Arbor Realty Trust. This trend has not only escalated apartment growth but the number of buyers for rental homes in the area has greatly increased as well.

Just over the W.C. Holmes bridge on Hwy. 59, you only have to drive two miles before running into the amenity-packed complex of One Club. The large apartment complex is a favorite with seasonal staffing and offers golf, tennis, pickleball, fitness facilities and even a on-site bar / food outlets.

If you drive just a few miles more you can find over 2,000 apartment units in the greater Foley area, surrounded by  hundreds of rental homes. This has helped Foley become one of the fastest growing towns in the nation.

There are typically thousands of jobs posted annually in the Gulf Shores community. Most openings are anchored by the massive tourism, hospitality, and service industries along the Alabama Gulf Coast. In recent years the small town has seen the rental market become infiltrated by beloved retirees and seasonal guests from northern states. This phenomenon has forced many of the tourist industry employees to find shelter off of the island.

While the number of new apartment construction permits has slowed, the amount of new neighborhoods planned in south Baldwin County has jumped. The companies developing these communities directly promote to rental owners and a few have even begun their own rental companies.

These Build-to-Rent (BTR) companies construct and manage entire neighborhoods specifically for the rental market. Some locally known development entities like Lennar Corporation, D.R. Horton and Capstone Communities are just a few of the BTR outlets. A recent example of these managed rental communities is The Cottages at Foley Farms.

As the tourism market grows and the seasons for tourism expand, more rental housing development will likely be built to accommodate the staffing, within their budget requirements.