Toro Real Estate Acquires Assets in AL, TN

By D.C. Stribling, Contributing Editor

Rendering of 608 Main St., the 72-unit student housing development in Clarksville, Tenn.

Toro Real Estate Partners, a private real estate investment firm focused on apartment communities in the Southeast and Midwest, has acquired two more properties in the South. One is a standard apartment community, the other student housing.

One deal involved buying Orleans Place, a completely vacant 338-unit property in Mobile, Ala., for an unspecified price. “We like the Mobile market, as we feel it can be poised to grow,” said Toro principal John Cohen. “We’re paying well below replacement cost of new construction, so we know the project can produce great returns.“

The second property is a 72-unit, 156-bed student housing development underway across from the entrance to Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn., also trading for an unspecified price. Toro principal Don DiRenzo said one of the main attractions of the development is the strong demand for student housing in the Clarksville area.

“There is no true student housing in the area,” DiRenzo noted. “The school has been putting students up in hotels.” Austin Peay has an enrollment of more than 10,000 students, located in the fifth-largest city in Tennessee.

In the past 12 months, Syosset, N.Y.-based Toro has acquired five multifamily apartments at a cost of about $75 million, with an additional $50 million to $75 million in deals in its pipeline. The two new acquisitions increase Toro’s units under management to 1,010 units.

Earlier this year, Toro purchased a South Carolina apartment community.

Image courtesy of Toro Real Estate Partners