Philly Investor GoldOller Buys 1,200 Units in Metropolitan Atlanta

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Atlanta—GoldOller Real Estate Investments has significantly expanded its metropolitan Atlanta presence with the acquisition of  six rental properties containing more than 1,200 units. PSPIB, a Canadian pension fund, sold the portfolio to GoldOller for $87.3 million.

The six gated communities are located in south metro Atlanta submarkets and were built in 2000. They include Meadow View (240 units) and Meadow Springs (216 units) both in College Park, Ga; Peachtree Landing (220 units) in Fairburn, Ga.; Hidden Creek (116 units) in Marrow, Ga.; Eastwood Village (360 units) in Stockbridge, Ga.; and Monterey Village (198 units) in Jonesboro, Ga.

According to GoldOller, the company paid significantly less per door than replacement cost—especially given the relatively new vintage of the assets—and less than the average for comparable metro Atlanta properties. The company expects to benefit from value-add upside by taking advantage of Atlanta’s growth and from the properties’ proximity to Atlanta Hartsfield Airport.

In recent years, the Atlanta apartment market has benefited significantly from local economic growth, as the area has emerged from the recession. An improving job market is encouraging household formation, according to investment specialist Marcus & Millichap, with apartment vacancy in the metro area now at its lowest point since 2007, falling 50 basis points year-over-year to 7.1 percent at the end of 2013. Effective rents rose 5.2 percent this year.

Philadelphia-based GoldOller has a portfolio of about 30,000 managed units and 7,500 owned and operated units. Prospect Capital Corp. provided a majority equity investment in the deal through a controlled REIT. Along with previous multifamily residential acquisitions, Prospect has now invested $288.3 million in 10 separate transactions encompassing 25 multifamily properties.