Atlanta-Area Apartments Sell for $30M

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Marietta, Ga.—Bexley Apartments has traded hands for $30.6 million. Carroll Organization, a privately held company specializing in multifamily real estate, acquired the 494-unit property in Marietta, Ga., from Arenda Capital.

Jones Lang LaSalle managing directors David Gutting and Derrick Bloom represented Arenda Capital in the sale. According to Bloom, rents have increased enough in the Atlanta metro market in recent years — combined with few deliveries to the market — to provide Arenda with “a great opportunity to sell.”

Atlanta’s apartment market continues to benefit from employment growth in the metro area, which investment specialist Marcus & Millichap predicts will rise by 3.1 percent in 2014, as 74,800 jobs are created. Last year, payrolls grew 2.4 percent. The company also expects local apartment vacancies to drop 10 basis points to 7.1 percent by the end of this year, and effective rents to rise an average of $892, up 3.4 percent.

For its part, Atlanta-based Carroll has been aggressively buying properties lately. In 2013, it acquired over $1 billion of multifamily properties located throughout the Southeast, with the bulk of its acquisitions in Texas, Florida, and Georgia. The company now owns more than 11,000 multifamily units in five states.

This year, Carroll Organization CEO M. Patrick Carroll says the company will continue to seek acquisitions in the Southeast, while also expanding its geographic range to “Western markets that show strong economic attributes.” And the deals continue: Besides the Bexley Apartments deal, this month Carroll also acquired the 323-unit Indigo Luxury Apartments in Jacksonville.