DULUTH, GA-Brooklyn, NY-based Collins Group LLC rang up its 10th and final acquisition of 2005 with the $11.5-million purchase of the 266-unit Saratoga Springs Apartments in suburban Atlanta. Collins paid the Milestone Group of Concord, Ontario, Canada $43,233 per unit.
The deal marked Collins' seventh multifamily acquisition in metro Atlanta and its third in Gwinnett County. The New York firm ended 2005 with over $150 million in new acquisitions totaling 3,500 units and about three million sf.
Ari Parnes, a principal and managing director of Collins Group, calls the Duluth area "a triple A location and a perfect match for us." He says Collins Group is "consistently attracted to the growing tenant profiles in this part of Gwinnett." Parnes adds, "This is simply one of the best places to live in metro Atlanta." Neighboring properties include Gwinnett Crossing, managed by Houston-based CNC Properties; Merritt at Satellite Place and Falls of Gwinnett, two Equity Residential assets.
Jay Herman, Collins' vice president of acquisitions and finance, says his company was attracted to the Atlanta suburb because it is "a high net-worth area and has a high percentage of home ownership, a strong employment profile and business community." Herman adds, "You can see by the neighboring communities that this is an area in high demand and with a quality of life rivaling some of the more luxurious communities in metro Atlanta."
Herman says Collins "plans to continue its aggressive pace of acquisitions throughout the coming year in all of its focus markets." Bill Shippen of Apartment Realty Advisors brokered the transaction.
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