BALTIMORE-An affiliate of Harbor Group International has acquired the 234-unit Belvedere Towers Apartments here for $26.1 million. The company plans to invest an additional $2.6 million in renovations--a project that will include completing interior upgrades to the units that the seller started. 

This is the latest trade in what has been a slew of acquisitions for the Norfolk, VA-based company. HGI likes this particular acquisition, though, because it adds to its already significant presence here. “We find this area of Baltimore to be a dynamic and healthy submarket with the potential for healthy rent growth and low vacancy rates,” T. Richard Litton, Jr., president of Harbor Group International, says in a prepared statement. “We believe our current scale in the market will allow us to bring significant operational efficiencies and value to the property.” HGI was not able to return a call to GlobeSt.com in time for publication.

The acquisition of Belvedere Towers Apartments follows HGI’s acquisition of a 1,984-unit portfolio of Baltimore apartments in July, bringing its total units in the Baltimore area to more than 3,500. CBRE’s Bill Roohan, Mike Muldowney and Brian Margerum represented the seller.

Even though the property is roughly 94% occupied, it was a value add play for the buyer, Margerum tells GlobeSt.com. “The current seller had begun a renovation program but was forced to terminate it because of the economy.” The seller, an LLC, is an institutional investor, he says.

Other major deals by HGI include its purchase in March of an eight-property, 2,508-unit multifamily portfolio, located in the Hampton Roads area of Southeast Virginia, for $165.9 million. In August, it teamed up with Great Neck, NY-based Jadam Equities to acquire a distressed $31-million, 214-unit, four-building multifamily portfolio in Upper Manhattan. Its portfolio management unit has also been active, landing an assignment for an approximate 4,200-unit multifamily portfolio in southern Virginia last month.