Standard Buys Charlotte-Area Affordable Asset
Darby Development sold the 100-unit property.
Standard Communities has purchased Laurel Hill Apartments, a 100-unit, fully affordable community in Shelby, N.C. Capitalization amounted to $16.4 million. According to Yardi Matrix data, the seller was Darby Development.
Financing included a $2 million Fannie Mae loan originated by Regions Bank and $9.3 million in tax-exempt bonds issued by the City of Shelby with Regions Bank as trustee, Yardi Matrix also shows. The latter bears a 4.25 percent fixed rate with maturity set for 2040.
Additional funding also consisted of LIHTC secured through the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency.
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Completed in 1974, the community encompasses one- to three-bedroom floorplans ranging between 745 and 1,100 square feet, spread across 16 two-story buildings. Amenities consist of a playground and a neighboring community park, among others.
Plans call for renovations at Laurel Hill Apartments with $100,000 earmarked in capital expenditure per unit. In prepared remarks, Standard Communities Vice President Tommy Attridge underscored the company’s intentions to address deferred maintenance and overhaul units’ features, as well as enhance amenities.
Located at 1526 Eaves Road, Laurel Hill Apartments is less than 1 mile from U.S. Route 74, while downtown Charlotte, N.C., is some 44 miles east. Residents can access two bus stops and the Keeter Stadium—a baseball arena—within two miles of the property.
Standard’s affordable investments
Laurel Hill marks Standard’s sixth investment in the Carolinas, as well as its second in North Carolina, bringing its footprint to 840 units across the two states, according to prepared remarks by Standard Communities Co-Founder & Principal Jeffrey Jaeger.
The company’s affordable housing investments spreads beyond the Carolinas. Nationally, Standard’s portfolio includes more than 20,000 units in over 130 communities across the U.S.
One of the firm’s previous investments involved the purchase of Huntington Towers, a 214-unit fully affordable age-restricted community in Mount Prospect, Ill. A & R Katz sold the asset for $45 million.
Greater Charlotte’s transaction volume remains steady
Year-to-date through June, more than 3,900 units traded across Greater Charlotte for some $695 million, Yardi Matrix data shows. On par with national trends, this year’s volume is lower than the one recorded in the same interval of last year, but not by much: More than 3,000 units changed hands for north of $751 million in the first six months of 2023.
Meanwhile, last year closed just short of $2 billion in total transactions, a sharp decline compared to Charlotte’s prior four-year average, which landed at $4.2 billion, according to a recent Yardi Matrix report.
