Swinging '60s Buckhead Apartment Hits Market
ARA Newmark's Dan Phelan has a real piece of Buckhead history for sale. And that more or less translates into value-add. Dan, here on left with ARA Newmark's Bo Moore (along with the rest of the team of John Weber, Bill Shippen and Chad Defoor) have been tapped by LA-based Aslan Realty Group to sell Metropolitan at Buckhead—one of the first multifamily projects developed in what was then considered a suburb of Atlanta. The Lenox Road 431-unit complex, built in 1961, was bought by Aslan in 2007 for $41.5M, according to Databank. Now, it's shooting for in excess of $50M, or about $115/door. “It's a complete value-add play,” he says.
It's an interesting play in a market that has seen skyrocketing rents with new high-rise apartment towers, with some individual units approaching $3/SF. Current rents at the Metropolitan are just hovering above $1/SF, but Dan says occupancy is high and it offers the ability for a new owner to raze two of the buildings and go mid-rise with another 350 units. Another key feature—despite its age and a fire that destroyed a handful of units in 2013—is its proximity to the Lenox MARTA station, which is being eyed for redevelopment in the next few years, Dan says.
