Stonemark Adds Another 1,600 RADCO-Owned Units to its Portfolio

By Joshua Ayers, Senior Editor

The RADCO Companies’ Ashford Pavilion in Decatur, Ga. was acquired in early 2013 and is managed by Stonemark.

Atlanta—Stonemark Management has added another 1,600 apartments owned by The RADCO Companies to its management portfolio. The third-party manager has worked in partnership with The RADCO Companies since 2012 and now managers over 5,700 units in 21 communities on behalf of the firm.

“The process started about 14 months ago when we got our first property in November of 2012,” Walt Lamperski, president of Stonemark Management, tells MHN. “The bulk of it has occurred in the last four months. We picked up several in November, several in December and then we entered into some new markets with them in January and the first half of February. It’s really accelerated in the last four months.”

Lamperski says that most of the 21 properties were existing communities in RADCO’s portfolio, but there have recently been new acquisitions that Stonemark has been tapped to manage. The most recent acquisition was the 297-unit Defoors Ferry West in Atlanta. Prior to that, Stonemark assumed management responsibilities for two properties in Chicago and one in Indianapolis.

“Those were two new markets for us that we’ve never been in,” Lamperski adds. “In January, they acquired a property in Tulsa and we’re managing that as well. We’re managing 100 percent of their assets now.”

Lamperski says that RADCO’s rapid growth in the Southeast and now into the Midwest can be attributed to the company’s access to capital and its strong investor base.

“Up until a year or so ago they were exclusively Atlanta,” he says. “Within the last year they have picked up Chicago, Indianapolis, and Tulsa. They have also expanded their territory and I think they’re eventually going to potentially look into Texas and the Carolinas as well. So they have kind of kind of expanded what their footprint of potential acquisitions might be.”

Stonemark manages properties primarily in the Southeastern United States as well as Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Indiana and Oklahoma.

“Stonemark is an exceptional multifamily property management firm with an impeccable reputation, which makes them a perfect fit for RADCO’s rapidly expanding portfolio of multifamily communities,” says Norman J. Radow, founder and CEO at RADCO. “We look forward to continuing to foster and grow our relationship with this outstanding company, which has helped ensure that RADCO’s properties are among the most sought-after in the Atlanta metro area.”

Lamperski says that most of the properties in the portfolio are late 1970s and 1980s-era, garden style communities that tend to have value-add opportunities. Both companies have extensive experience in value-add opportunities.

“Everything they look at would comfortably fall under the category of value-add I think the reason our partnership with them is working so well is because that’s what we specialize in also,” Lamperski says.

While major structural upgrades are in the hands of RADCO, Lamperski says that Stonemark’s efforts in revitalizing the communities involves several different factors including aggressive advertising and marketing, corporate outreach and the hiring of qualified and engaging staff members. On the operations side, Stonemark has made enhancements to individual property websites and has stepped up its screening efforts which have dramatically reduced the number of delinquent rent levels.

The partnership, according to Lamperski, is a near perfect fit, with both companies seeing eye-to-eye on most aspects of the relationship.

“In my role, I work closely with a lot of different owners,” Lamperski notes. “Frankly, this one is working so smoothly. When we talk about improving the assets it’s an open discussion, it’s never personal, it’s a lot of brain storming. I wish it was like this with all clients. It’s been terrific.”