Behind the Deal: Radco's Ashford Belmar
Denver’s got job growth and supply that hasn’t caught up with demand, Radco Cos CEO Norman Radow tells us, and that'll be good for valuation and rent growth. (Imagine the job growth that will occur once everybody returns from their "long lunch" during this US/Germany soccer game.)
This week Atlanta-based Radco, an opportunistic investor, closed on the 512-unit Parc Belmar in Lakewood, paying $95M and renaming it Ashford Belmar. “Denver was named the No. 1 market for rent and occupancy growth in the country by Merrill Lynch two days before we closed,” Norman says. “So we’re investing ahead of a growth market.” Here's Norman in The Fifth Third-Kennesaw State University football stadium that he developed when he was chairman of its board.
The property, which Norman calls a strong Class-B-plus, is near a light rail station that opened up in 2013 and a new Whole Foods down the street. And a Chick-Fil-A opened in Belmar: “How could an Atlanta company not take notice?” he asks. “We feel right at home.” Radco financed the purchase through a mixture of Freddie Mac debt, preferred equity from the Related Cos, and its own equity. (All it was missing is change from under the couch cushions.) It plans $5M in capital improvements to bring it to Class-A. Moran & Co. brokered the deal.
