Vista Realty Lands $47M for Atlanta-Area Development

Cushman & Wakefield arranged the financing for Sweetwater Vista, located in the suburb of Douglasville, Ga.

Sweetwater Vista. Image courtesy of Cushman & Wakefield

Vista Realty Partners has garnered $46.9 million in construction financing arranged by Cushman & Wakefield. The financing will go toward the development of Sweetwater Vista, an apartment community in Douglasville, Ga., about 20 miles west of Atlanta.

Sweetwater Vista will be a 303-unit garden-style apartment community consisting of nine three- and four-story residential buildings and a clubhouse. It will be constructed on a 40-acre woodland parcel featuring an on-property walking and biking trail. A pool with patio and outdoor gathering area featuring grills will be among the property’s leading amenities.

Sweetwater Vista’s residential units will average about 1,000 square feet in size. Cushman & Wakefield believes Sweetwater Vista will benefit from being a brand new property in a high-barrier-to-entry submarket noted for a current supply of older properties.

Submarket demand

The primary challenge was educating the market on all of the positive things happening in Douglasville,” Michael Ryan, Cushman & Wakefield’s Atlanta-based vice chairman, told Multi-Housing News. “Most lenders are familiar with Atlanta, but not this specific submarket, as there has been little to no multifamily construction in Douglasville for years.

“We overcame the challenge by highlighting the demand in the submarket. Industrial developers have built approximately 15 million square feet of industrial that is well leased. However, there has been virtually no new multifamily projects built to serve the local demand (and) renter. Sweetwater targets an affordable price point that will appeal to the broad submarket, including all of the new industrial jobs in the immediate area.” 

Job corridors

The apartment community’s location is on Riverside Parkway, near Sweetwater Creek State Park. Future residents will benefit from access to both the I-20 and I-285 corridors, proximity to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and the Midtown district of Atlanta.

In addition to Ryan, Brian Linnihan, Richard Henry and Blake Cohen were part of the team that secured the preferred equity investment through Nationwide Insurance Co. and senior financing through Synovus Bank. Construction commenced last month. Last week, a Cushman & Wakefield team represented the seller in an Atlanta-area transaction.