Time to Go: Dobbins Sells Alabama Community for $24M

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Birmingham, Ala.—After holding the property for about two and a half years, Dobbins Group LLC has sold the Moretti at Vulcan Park for $24.6M to Raia Properties. The apartment community includes 135 units and was originally developed in the 1940s.

In mid-2012, Dobbins acquired the property with the intention of redeveloping it along modern lines. Construction was completed in June 2014 by Birmingham-based Capstone Building Corp. Cushman & Wakefield, led by Michael Kemether, represented Dobbins Group in the sale.

The Moretti features one- and two-bedroom units, with a small number of three-bedroom units. Common amenities include a resort-sized salt-water pool, fitness facility, cyber café and heavily landscaped courtyards complete with fountains.

New developments in Birmingham have driven occupancies down slightly, according to the most recent market report by Rock Apartment Advisors, released in October. Average occupancy was down in 3Q 2014 across the Birmingham market at 92.5 percent, compared with 93 percent at the same time last year. However, according to the company, both quoted rents ($825 average/unit) and effective rents ($807 average/unit) increased in 2014, even though developers delivered 437 units or 1.19 percent of the surveyed stock over the previous 12 months.

Birmingham-based Dobbins was formed in 2010 to pursue real estate investments in the Southeast. Thus far, the company has over $100 million of new developments in progress.