Investment Realty Takes 468 Units for $40M

ALPHARETTA, GA-Investment Realty LLC of Birmingham, AL has acquired the 468-unit, 91%-occupied Huntington Farms apartments here from Concierge Asset Management of Tiburon, CA for $39.6 million. The deal for the 23-year-old property equaled 84,615 per unit.

In a prepared statement, Investment Realty president Guy Savage says "we bought it below replacement cost, yet it could never be replaced because 46 acres of land in Alpharetta today is neither available nor affordable." Based on the land size alone, the purchase price equates to $860,870 per acre or $19.76 per sf.

Savage adds he "personally looked at 70 properties and we went through every one of them with a fine-tooth comb. Huntington Farms was the only one that made perfect economic sense because the land alone is so valuable." Investment Realty formed Huntington Farms Associates LLC as the property's owner of record.

"There will be a million people in North Atlanta in the next 10 years, so this is a long-term hold for us," Savage says. "I have my personal equity in an apartment complex, so I have skin in the game." Asset and Investment Managers, a firm owned by Savage, will handle property management and leasing activity at Huntington Farms..

The property was previously known as Governor's Point when Concierge bought it in 1999. The occupancy level at that time was about 40%. "We had planned a five- to seven-year investment hold at Huntington Farms, but reached our seven-year exit price in 28 months, so we're moving on," says Joe Gillespie, Concierge's acquisitions director.

Gillespie adds, "We're a selective buyer of value-add apartment opportunities where we can turn around and re-energize the property, hopefully in the Atlanta area which is experiencing strong economic and job growth."

Jaime May, chairman and CEO of JBM Realty Advisors in Naples, FL and Carlos Berner, a company director, negotiated for the seller. The buyer represented itself.