ECI Group Lands $625M Refi for 13-Property Portfolio
The funds will go toward renovating six of the communities and supporting the firm's development pipeline.
Columns at Bear Creek. Image courtesy of ECI Group
ECI Group has secured a major $625 million refinancing for its 13-property portfolio spread across four Sun Belt states. Goldman Sachs provided the refinancing to ECI Group, who was advised by JLL in the transaction.
The portfolio totals 3,478 units and offer a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The communities are located in growing submarkets of Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas. The properties were built between 1979 and 2021, representing a mix of newly-built Class A and upgrade-ready Class B communities. According to ECI Group, the portfolio’s occupancy rate is more than 96 percent.
Part of the refinancing will be used to renovate six of the portfolio’s properties, which are located in Florida and Georgia and were built between 1996 and 2008. The renovations will include updates to the amenities, common areas, exteriors and interiors, Tim Johnson, vice president of customer experience at ECI Group, told Multi-Housing News.
”Our full interior renovation program includes fresh paint, new flooring, countertops, cabinet facings and replacing lighting and appliances with more energy efficient selections, all of which will bring the homes to the standard of the company’s highly appointed portfolio,” Johnson told MHN.
A ROBUST PIPELINE
Beyond its existing assets, ECI Group has a goal of completing four ground-up developments each year, Seth Greenberg, CEO of ECI Group, said in prepared remarks. Johnson told MHN that the company currently has more than 1,400 units under construction and more than 500 in pre-development in several markets including Conyers, Lawrenceville and Roswell, Ga., and Tampa and West Palm Beach, Fla.
Outside ground-up projects, ECI Group has worked on projects that redevelop sites into residential properties. Last month, the company started work, along with its project partner Phoenix Capital, on a 335-unit community in East Roswell, Ga., that redevelops a former strip center.
