Student-Managed Fund Invests in Buckhead Multifamily Property
A group of investors has co-invested in Brookhaven, a 17-story multifamily community in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta.
By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor
Atlanta—A group of investors has co-invested in Brookhaven, a 17-story multifamily community in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta. Co-investors included Admiral Capital Group and Wood Partners, but more unusually, the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School’s student-managed Real Estate Fund II (KFBS-REFII). The partners did not disclose the details of their investment.
KFBS-REFII was formed in 2011 as a successor to the university’s first fund, with the same dual purpose: to provide returns to investors, as any real estate fund would, but also to provide first-hand CRE experience to UNC students. The second fund is currently in its investment period; recent investments include a portfolio of industrial properties in the DFW market, a hotel development in Charleston, N.C., and retail centers in Charlotte, N.C., and Washington, DC.
Wood Partners has close ties to UNC and the school’s real estate efforts. Leonard Wood, the company’s founding member, earned his MBA from Kenan-Flagler in 1972 and more recently contributed $4 million to establish the Leonard W. Wood Foundation for Excellence in Real Estate and to endow the Leonard W. Wood Center for Real Estate Studies.
Admiral was co-founded by retired NBA player (Spurs, 1989-2003) and philanthropist David Robinson. It too was formed to generate returns, but also to expand on Robinson’s philanthropic efforts, which focus on education. In 2001, Robinson contributed $10 million to start the Carver Academy in San Antonio, which recently merged with IDEA Public Schools, and has plans to open 20 schools in San Antonio in the next five years, targeting lower-income communities.
As MHN reported in November, a joint venture of Wood Parters and Admiral acquired Brookhaven late last year. The property is a broken condo conversion, originally built in 1985. Wood Partners, as general partner, led the acquisition.
The building underwent renovation in 2008, which saw the modernization of its interior. Wood Partners plans to upgrade the property’s common areas, including expanded parking, a fitness center and a resort-style amenity deck. The property already features a heated pool, saunas and a lighted tennis court.
