ATLANTA—Prominent Realty Group just secured a $9.1 million equity investment from a value-add institutional investor. The company used the funds to acquire a $38 million apartment project known as Preserve at Port Royal located in Port Royal, SC. NorthMarq Capital's Atlanta office represented Prominent in the deal.

"The main challenge about this transaction was its location being perceived as tertiary," Will James, vice president of NorthMarq Capital's Atlanta office who represented PRG, tells GlobeSt.com. "The property was built in 2006 and in a great location within the city of Port Royal.”

Port Royal's economic generators center around the University of South Carolina Beaufort campus, nearby Parris Island's Marine Corps—where recruits have been training since 1915 and 20,000 men and women graduate annually—and the Beaufort Air Naval station, which is completing a $300 million runway and hangar facility for the new Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jet.

“Just 20 minutes away and closer to Hilton Head, a similar vintage project traded for a 20% premium just because it was on the way to Hilton Head Island,” James says. “Our client's basis is at or just below replacement costs, and once the state sells the 50 acre Port of Port Royal, the waterfront will become a vibrant retail and tourist destination further improving the rental market on the Port Royal island."

The Beaufort Air Naval Station will be one of seven training facilities across the US and Beaufort has been designated as the training facility for US, British and Italian pilots. Port Royal's eventual transition to a waterfront tourist destination, coupled with the main three economic generators, means the Preserve at Port Royal apartments will realize tremendous rent growth over the next five to 10 years.