Cortland's Big Latest Buy
Cortland Partners is the latest investor to ante up in Atlanta's heated multifamily market. (It's like kickball at recess, everybody wants to play.) The firm just purchased the Pointe at Lenox Park, a 271-unit apartment community, for $24.9M. Cortland's Mike Altman says the Pointe is part of a string of investments made by Cortland in the South, including in Texas, in the past year, all around $100k/unit price range.
But Mike says this vintage 1988 property hits the firm's investment bull's eye: A quality product that may be a little tired on the inside. (Some people have said that about George Clooney lately.) And the company plans interior renovations and then to market the property at $1.25/SF rents. Therein lies the strategy—as developers unload a bunch of new product everywhere in town, Cortland can offer a comparable property—newly renovated interiors and larger units—that is far below the $2/SF rents many of the new products are chasing. “That discount is meaningful. That's $750 difference in rent. I mean, that's a student loan payment, that's a car payment. That to us is value.” It echoes Cortland's Steven DeFrancis' (above) strategy he outlined during our Atlanta State of the Market event last month, which you can read here.
