Cortland Partners to Pay $1.6B for 5,800-Unit Portfolio
Elme Communities will sell the 19-property collection amid liquidation and dissolution proceedings.
Cortland Partners has agreed to purchase a 19-asset portfolio for $1.6 billion from Elme Communities. The collection encompasses 5,793 units across three markets and two states, as well as Washington, D.C., Yardi Matrix data shows. This deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
Nearly 75 percent of the collection—15 communities totaling 4,317 units—is concentrated in Northern Virginia, with the rest located across metro Atlanta and D.C., according to Yardi Matrix. Most of the soon-to-be-sold assets fall within the 200- to 299-unit size range, while 13 of the properties have a vintage of 26 years or higher.
Notably, Cortland’s purchase would nearly triple the unit count that traded across Northern Virginia during the first seven months of 2025, the same source shows. The multifamily transaction volume throughout the market clocked in at more than $373 million, down 68.6 percent year-over-year.
This acquisition marks Cortland’s second large-scale transaction with a publicly traded REIT. Its first such agreement closed in 2019, making Cortland the largest multifamily owner in Dallas-Fort Worth after it took Pure Multifamily REIT private in a $1.2 billion deal.
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Elme’s decision to sell landed as market conditions have not allowed the company to lower its cost of capital in a way that supported accretive growth, Elme President & CEO Paul McDermott said in prepared remarks.
The transaction represents the company’s first step in its liquidation and dissolution. Elme is seeking to divest its 10 remaining assets, which according to Yardi Matrix, consist of 3,574 multifamily units and 309,000 square feet of office space.
Additionally, Elme is set to obtain a $520 million loan from Goldman Sachs secured by the company’s properties not included in the sale to Cortland. However, the availability of this debt is reliant upon Elme closing its portfolio deal.
Goldman Sachs and JLL Securities act as financial advisors to Elme, with Hogan Lovells US handling legal matters and Joele Frank overseeing communications strategy.
Evercore serves as the lead financial advisor and exclusive debt placement agent to Cortland, while Citigroup Global Markets and Morgan Stanley provide further financial input. King & Spalding handles legal representation.
Portfolio deals reaching thousands of units keep rolling
Significant portfolio deals continued to pour in, despite market uncertainty and volatility earlier in the year. Last May, PCCP paid $540.5 million for a 1,770-unit Bay Area collection sold by Veritas and Ivanhoé Cambridge.
One month before that, Morgan Properties expanded its Midwestern portfolio with a 3,054-unit acquisition. The company paid $501 million for the 11 assets sold by Trilogy Real Estate Group.
