Drever Opportunity Fund LP paid Highland Residential Co., a privately held Atlanta investment partnership, $17.4 million or $96,667 per unit for the 12-acre, class A, gated property. Tiburon, CA-based Concierge Asset Management, sponsors of the Drever Fund, has $500 million to invest in additional metro Atlanta apartment properties.

"We want to be the buyer of choice for underperforming class A apartment properties here, where we have the potential to add value," says Joe Gillespie, Concierge's director of acquisitions.

Decatur is "one of the city's most desirable residential areas and was a growth leader before the high tech and stock markets collapsed," he says. "Since then, it's had negative job and population growth. But when Atlanta snaps back and the economy starts creating jobs again--and it will--Decatur-Emory will lead the market rebound."

Gillespie says, "Over half of Atlanta's Fortune 500 companies have operations in DeKalb County, so we're confident we'll get superior investment results from Grayson Park."

Atlanta-based Standard Mortgage Corp. arranged the 30-year, fully amortized, 5.72% fixed-interest loan from Fannie Mae. Only interest payments will be made on the first two years of the loan.

"Normally, you only get a 28-year amortization if the first two years are interest only, but Maxwell Drever has an excellent reputation with Fannie Mae, based on his performance in the 1990s, and the lender granted Standard Mortgage's waiver request for a full 30-year amortization," says Craig West, senior vice president of the mortgage banking firm.

Atlanta broker Derrick Bloom, a principal at Apartment Realty Advisors Southeast, brought Grayson Park to Concierge. "They are very thorough, no-nonsense people who get things done on time and they don't haggle for any price adjustments at the end of the deal, which, unfortunately, is a common practice today," Bloom says.

Concierge has bought, repositioned and managed 100 apartment communities for private and institutional investors over the last 30 years. Besides Atlanta, the Drever family owns multifamily rental properties in Sarasota, FL; Austin, TX; Huston and Seattle.