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Florida Investor Buys Landmark Atlanta Apartment Tower for $121 Million

ATLANTA (Aug. 30, 2014) - The mystery individual investor who just bought the Midtown apartment tower known as 77 12th Street has been identified.

Officially, the buyer is C AND J ATLANTA LLC, an entity that formed in mid-July for purpose of owning the trophy tower. A search of Georgia corporations records shows that C AND J is controlled by John Joyce, a real estate investor with a home in Parkland, Fla. We identified the buyer while shopping this weekend. One of the salespeople lives in the tower and showed us an email saying that C AND J is the new owner and to start sending monthly rent payments to the LLC.

C AND J paid $121 million, or $376,000 a unit for the building with 330 apartments, according to Commercial Real Estate Direct.

C AND J acquired the apartment building that contains street-level retail from Daniel Corp. and Selig Enterprises, the team that developed it as part of its landmark 12th & Midtown mixed-use project. 

Commercial Real Estate Direct says the politcally active Joyce is a Massachusetts investor, but we'll stick with Florida since he owns a nice home in Parkland. Now he owns one of the nicest apartment towers in the Southeast, too.

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Investor Strikes Deal to Acquire Atlanta's Priciest Apartment Tower

Investor Strikes Deal to Acquire Atlanta's Priciest Apartment Tower

ATLANTA (Aug. 11, 2014) - The largest single-asset multifamily investment sale in Atlanta is upon us, and we expect the business media to jump all over the story this week.

Daniel Corp., Selig Enterprises and Northwestern Mutual have agreed to terms to sell the 77 12th Street apartment tower in the 12th & Midtown mixed-use development. The buyer is described as "an individual investor."

The buyer is expected to pay a record price-per-unit for the tower with 330 apartments. The sales price is expected to top $130 million, or $400,000 per unit, according to Commercial Real Estate Direct. The price is frothy, in part, because apartments at 77 12th Street are commanding $2.31 per square foot, the highest in metro Atlanta.

Engler Financial Group of Alpharetta, Georgia, which has the listing, shows the property as "Under Contract" on its website listing of Available Properties. 

Now that this information is out, we look forward to seeing the local and CRE press give the story its due. Several outlets reported in March that the apartment tower had hit the market.

Atlanta's Gables Residential Completes Sale of Itself - to Basically - Itself, CoStar Confirms

UPDATE: Gables Residential has secured the $3 billion sale (of itself) - basically to itself. Here's the scoop from CoStar News: 

Clarion Partners Closes Sale to Keep Gables Residential

Team Led By NYC Investment Manager Tops Several Private and Institutional Bidders to Retain Control of Apartment/Mixed-Use Developer

By Randyl Drummer

 

Global real estate investment manager Clarion Partners confirmed reports in the marketplace that a group of investors headed by Clarion has acquired Gables Residential, an Atlanta-headquartered multifamily developer, owner and manager. 

Operating as ING Clarion Partners, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amsterdam-based ING Group, Clarion and a small group of institutional investors acquired Gables in 2005 for $2.8 billion including debt in one of the earliest public-to-private acquisitions of the last real estate cycle. 

The transaction was one of the last major deals before the recession sent property values plunging. It is believed the decision to put Gables up for sale last year was prompted by the recent resurgence in apartment property values and the desire of Clarion's investment partners to cash out, according to sources. 

Gables, now operating as a privately held REIT, manages about 35,000 apartment homes and 400,000 square feet of retail space in 60 properties across the U.S. with about 1,100 professionals, complemented by Clarion Partners’ portfolio management, research and investment management expertise. 

The new ownership group led by Clarion Partners acquired Gables Residential for about $3.2 billion, according to published reports. Industry newsletter Real Estate Alert last year reported that finalists in bidding for Gables included a venture of DRA Advisors of New York and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; a joint venture between Greystar and Pimco; Denver-based Aimco, an apartment REIT; and CalPERS and GID Investments. 

However, Clarion Partners and its CEO Stephen Furnary, which bought ING Group’s real estate investment management business in the Americas from ING in June 2011, have been widely regarded as the front-runner for months. 

ATLANTA (Aug, 5, 2014) - The huge commercial real estate stories keep on coming during the "slow" summer period. In the latest development, Financial Times breaks news that Gables Residential, which has a long history in Atlanta and several key executives in Buckhead, has hired Eastdil Secured to market its entire 40,000-unit portfolio.

FT, citing unnamed sources, says the portfolio could fetch $3 billion in today's white-hot multifamily investment market.

Gables, which toyed with going public again this year, now is poised to sell the apartments it's accumulated across the Sunbelt. 

Let's hope more blockbuster CRE stories keep hitting this summer and beyond. Please click below to read entire article (and subscribe to FT like The Wilbert Group does).

US landlord Gables eyes $3bn sale

By Ed Hammond in New YorkAuthor alerts

©Bloomberg

Gables Residential, the landlord of almost 40,000 family homes, has been put up for sale by its private equity owners in a deal that would mark one of the largest sales of US residential property since the financial crisis.

The Florida-based company, which also owns a small portfolio of retail property, has hired bankers and is expecting to receive initial bids in the next few weeks, according to people familiar with the

The sale would mark an exit for Gables’ private equity owners, including Clarion Partners and Silverpeak, which took the company private in 2005 for $2.8bn. The process is at an early stage, however, and no deal is certain, the people cautioned.

The exact value of Gables could not be ascertained, but people familiar with the matter said they expected it to fetch between $2bn and $3bn and attract interest from private equity, sovereign wealth and institutional investors. The company is working with property broker Eastdil Secured on the sale.

 

Famous I.M. Pei-Design Building Re-Emerges at Prominent Real Estate Project in Atlanta

ATLANTA (May 27, 2014) - The facade of 131 Ponce de Leon Ave. in Midtown has re-emerged at the new mixed-use development being erected at the site. The facade is famous in architect circles for being the first commercial design by superstar architect I.M. Pei.

Developer Faison Enterprises had vowed to restore the facade after dismantling it earlier this year to make way for the new development. Faison said the Pei-designed office building at 131 Ponce would be repurposed as a clubhouse for the apartments that would replace it.

In 2012, Bull Realty brokered the sale of the prime property to a JV between Sereo Group Inc. and Faison. The Wilbert Group, the leading real estate PR firm, announced the sale on behalf of Bull.

We drove by the site yesterday, and true to its word, Faison has reinstalled the facade and shell of the I.M. Pei building he designed in 1949 as an office building for Gulf Oil. In 2008, another developer proposed plans to the property, and that drew a lot of attention to 131 Ponce as people realized its importance to architectural history.

We'll keep an eye on this one as see exactly how the building is woven into the fabric of the new 131Ponce. 

Game of Thrones: This Atlanta Developer Abdicated Condo Crown to Rule Apartment Market

ATLANTA (May 9, 2014) - About eight years ago, local Atlanta business writers held a coronation of sorts, naming attorney-turned developer Jim Borders the "Condo King."

The reporters did so because Borders' Novare Group pretty much singlehandely created Atlanta's afforable intown condo market with Metropolis, Spire, ViewPoint and to a lesser degree Gallery. But then the condomania created condo crash, and that gig was up.

Now, of course, the brilliant Borders has re-created himself by developing sought-after apartments in several Southeast cities, including Atlanta where he has opened two SkyHouses (SkyHouse Midtown and SkyHouse South) and has a third under construction in Buckhead (see photo of site below).

Borders is exporting the successful SkyHouse formula, in tandem with Batson-Cook Development Co., to other cities including Charlotte, North Carolina, (note use of new AP Style guidelines) and Austin, Texas.

How long before a reporter re-nicknames Borders "Apartment King"? I bet he hates the new moniker as much as he hated the outgoing one.

 

 

 

MetLife makes another $100 million bet on Atlanta

ATLANTA (Dec. 26, 2013) - MetLife Real Estate Investors is poised to make another $100 million investment in metro Atlanta. This time, the affiate of the insurance giant is buying a multifamily development across from OliverMcMillan's Buckhead Atlanta.

MetLife will pay $100 million - or $268,000 per unit - for Elle of Buckhead, the new upscale apartment community on Pharr Roar, according to Real Estate Alert. The seller is a joint venture beweetn USAA Real Estate of San Antonio and developer JLB Partners of the Dallas Metroplex.

The five-story apartment complex opened in 2012.

For MetLife, the Elle acquisition will be the second megadeal is will complete in Atlanta in the past two months. Earlier this month, MetLife closed on its $190 million purchase of The Terraces, a 1.1 million-square-foot office complex near Perimeter Mall.

Atlanta multifamily expert who coined "Condomania" dies at 85

ATLANTA (Nov. 5, 2013) - Dale Henson, the city's top multifamily expert and the first to predict Atlanta's calamitous condo collapse, died at his home last week. Henson, 85, died of cancer, according to his obituary that ran in today Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

In 1999, Henson warned that the "condomania" sweeping Atlanta would end in economic disaster for overzealous developers.

For the past four decades, Dale Henson Associates served as the go-to consultant to apartment and condo developers wondering whether to pull the switch on a new multifamily project. Henson also proved to be a go-to guy for reporters covering commercial real estate in Atlanta during the boom of the 1990s and bust of the 2000s.

I got to know Dale in the mid-1990s while covering real estate at Atlanta Business Chronicle. His office was directly across Peachtree Street from 1801 Peachtree, a former home of the Chronicle. Dale always made himself available to discuss proposed projects such as Post Properties' plans for a development at 2626 Peachtree. That tower, Post Peachtree, was the firm's first apartment tower designed to be quickly converted to condos (and it was).

In 1999, as owners scrambled to convert every class A apartment tower to condo and developers lined up sites to develop new condos, Henson urged caution. After all, no one knew the true depth Atlanta's high-rise condo market at the time because it really never existed outside a couple well-know towers.

Here's an excerpt from the May 1999 article.

The conversions will catch the attention of condo developers such as California's John Kusmiersky, who is pre-selling Park Regency near Phipps Plaza, said Dale Henson, a national apartment consultant and president of Atlanta-based Dale Henson Associates.

"They're going to say, `Wait a minute. They're going to steal our thunder,' " he said.

The current "condomania" that's sweeping Atlanta needs to slow, Henson added.

"A little caution is in order because there's so many [condos] coming," he said. "But, well-placed ones will go, as they always do."

Rest in peace, Dale. You called it.

Here's information about services and survivors, from the AJC obituary..

Milton Dale Henson, 85, died Oct. 30 in his home from cancer. H.M. Patterson and Son, Spring Hill Chapel will be handling arrangements as well as cremation services. A private service was held Sunday, and a memorial gathering will be held Thursday, Nov. 14 from 4-6 p.m. at H.M. Patterson and Son, Spring Hill Chapel. A private grave-side burial is scheduled for later this year.

In addition to his wife, Henson is survived by his daughter, Cathy Dayle Henson of Asheville, N.C.; his sons, Alexander Loring Dale Henson of Atlanta and Kyle Scott Henson of Williamson; his daughter-in-law, Beth Morehouse Henson of Williamson; his sisters, Monza Henson Wilson of Ozark, Ala. and Lazanda Henson of Atalla, Ala.; his brother, Aaron Gerome Henson of Natchitoches, La.; and his grandson.

 

#NAREE13: Day One Rocks Atlanta

NAREE Recap: Day One

Posted on June 5, 2013

by Stephen Ursery, The Wilbert Group

The National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) is holding its 47th Annual Spring Journalism Conference here at the Hilton Atlanta this week, and The Wilbert Group is there in force. In addition to our clients participating on numerous panels and hosting several high-profile events throughout the week, The Wilbert Group is providing pro bono communications for the conference and President Tony Wilbert is co-chair of the Host Committee.

In the spirit of the High Five blog, here are five quick blurbs about the sights and sounds of the show thus far:

#1 Taking Them Out to the Ballgame. About 30 real estate journalists and industry members took in the Atlanta Braves’ extra-inning win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night. A blazing summer sun and some good ‘ole Southern humidity made the first few innings something less than completely comfortable, but according to our sources, the group from NAREE was feeling a lot better after a frosty beverage or two and the much-anticipated sunset.

Our sources also can confirm that France Media Editor Matt Valley provided extensive analysis of the Braves’ season so far on the post-game shuttle ride back to the Hilton.

Kris Hudson, who covers hotels and shopping centers for The Wall Street Journal (in photo at right, serves as NAREE president this year.)

Other notables in attendance include Ralph Bivins of Realty News Report, Harold Bubil of the Sarasota Harold-Tribune, Michael Bull of Bull Realty, Sue Doerfler of the Arizona Republic, Liz Gillespie of North American Properties, Daniel Taub of Bloomberg, Kristi Swartz and Scott Trubey of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, to name just a few.

#2 Go West Young Man (And South. And East). In the “Top 10 Issues Facing Residential and Commercial Real Estate Over the Next Decade” session on Wednesday morning, Howard Gelbtuch, chair of the Counselors of Real Estate, pinpointed Brazil, China, India and Russia as countries poised for significant economic growth – and, thus, growing commercial real estate opportunities – in the coming years.

#3 Not Getting out of the House. Gelbtuch also noted that the trend of working from home will have a growing impact on the office sector. “This year, 30 percent of U.S. professionals chose to work from home, and this number is expected to skyrocket over the next several years,” he said.

So if you’re reading this from the den while on the company dime, you’re not alone.

#4 Urban is In. In the “The Workplace Debate: Downtown vs. Suburbs” session on Wednesday afternoon, the panelists made it clear that tenants now want to be in walkable urban environments to attract workers.

According to David Kitchens of Cooper Carry, 85 percent of the projects that the firm’s Washington D.C. office is working on are around a transit station or a planned transit station.

#5 Small is In, Too. Both the “Workplace” and the “Top 10” sessions touched on the shrinking size of much of commercial space. According to David Demarest of Jones Lang LaSalle, Gen Y workers simply don’t need a lot of square footage to put stuff. “Everything they need is in this (holding up iPad) or an iPhone” he said.

Likewise, many apartments that are less than 320 square feet are being sold in New York City, Gelbtuch noted.

SkyHouse Midtown Rising Quickly But Far From Record Pace

ATLANTA (July 25, 2012) - SkyHouse Midtown, the 23-story apartment tower under construction at West Peachtree and 12th streets, seems to have gone up in record time.

Seems like only a couple months ago since Batson-Cook Development and Novare Group kicked off construction of the building. (Actually, the official groundbreaking occurred on a warmer-than-usual Feb. 1.) When I drove by the site Sunday, it became clear the construction team lead by Baston-Cook's contracting arm, wants to complete the tower before Atlanta's hot multifamily market overheats.

It got me thinking about record times to complete towers, and as if on cue, the current issue of Fortune included a graphic about the speed of getting the world's tallest towers from start to completion.

One World Trade Center, which will be a symbolic 1,776 feet tall is rising at a clip of 0.6 feet a day, according to the piece. The world's current tallest buiding, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, went up at a faster pace of 1.5 feet/day. But the Chinese seem to be the masters of speed building, or commercial real estate propaganda.

The Chinese firm building Sky City One says it will complete the tower, which will be 2,749 feet tall, in a mere 90 days. That's a clip of 30.5 feet, or nearly three stories, a day. The Empire State building, which rises about 1,250 feet, took 410 days to construct.

For its part, Fortune acknowledged it's skeptical about Sky City One being completed in only three months.

Back in Midtown Atlanta, SkyHouse is rising at a good clip, but it won't eclipse any records, and that's good thing. (Disclosure, Invest Atlanta, a Wilbert News Strategies client, played a role in the financing of SkyHouse Midtown, another good thing.)