Home Properties Buys Two Maryland Apartment Complexes

Howard County, Md.--Home Properties Inc. has acquired two apartment properties in Howard County, Md., totaling more than 1,000 units all together.

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Howard County, Md.–Home Properties Inc. has acquired two apartment properties in Howard County, Md., north of metro Washington, DC and west of Baltimore. The two properties total more than 1,000 units all together.

The larger of the two is Charleston Place, which is in Ellicott City, Md., and offers 858 one- and two-bedroom apartments. Amenities include a pool, fitness and business centers, and a dog park. Home Properties paid about $103 million for Charleston Place and anticipates a 6.2 percent cap rate on the property for the first year.

In Columbia, Md., the company acquired the Greens at Columbia, a 168-unit property. Located on a 10-acre, landscaped site, the Greens at Columbia offers one- and two-bedroom units and amenities such as a pool and picnic area. Home Properties bought the asset for about $9.6 million. The company plans various improvements to both properties.

“We believe this is a great time to acquire B and C class multifamily properties,”  Charis W. Warshof, vice president of investor relations, tells MHN. “Our strategy of acquiring and repositioning properties to B+ and C+ class by making extensive exterior and interior improvements also adds value. For example, we target a minimum 10 percent initial unlevered yield on revenue-enhancing interior renovations, like kitchen and bath upgrades, and often greatly exceed that target.”

Rochester, NY-based Home Properties is a REIT that owns more than 100 properties comprising about 38,800 units mainly in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic states, as well as southern Florida. Year-to-date, the company has purchased a total of nine properties with 2,614 units for a combined price of $339 million.

Besides the multifamily properties it bought this year, the company also has two under development, 1200 East West Highway in Silver Spring, Md., and phase two of Courts at Huntington Station in Alexandria, Va. Those properties represent 247 units and 219 units, respectively.