Atlanta REIT pays $110M for 27-acre Baldwin Park apartments, extensive upgrades planned

UPDATED: January 7, 2016 12:16 PM — Atlanta-based Preferred Apartment Communities (PAC) is planning immediate upgrades through June of this year to common areas and landscaping at The Village at Baldwin Park, a Class A multifamily complex the company acquired on Tuesday for $110.75 million, a lead executive for PAC told GrowthSpotter on Thursday.

"This property is now going into its eighth year, and we have some very exciting upgrades planned," said Jen Wetter, PAC's area vice president for Florida, while on site in Baldwin Park Thursday morning for staff training. "Investments in landscaping alone will be more than $70,000."

Spread across roughly 27 acres in Baldwin Park, the Village complex is bordered by Lake Baldwin Lane to the west, Truman Road to the east, Baldwin Park Street to the north and Shea Street to the south.

Upgrades and renovation work will be focused within the first six months of this year on amenity spaces, including the complex's volleyball court, theater room, wine room, resident lounges and fitness center.

PAC will also be sealing all interior breezeways, and sealing and striping pavement throughout the community, Wetter said.

Planned interior rehab for all the apartments will be carried out over the next two to three years, as tenants move in and out. That will include all new stainless steel appliances, subway tile back-splash in the kitchen, new hardwood laminate flooring, lighting fixtures, sink upgrades, new granite counter tops in the kitchen and marble counter tops in bathrooms.

Wetter said PAC typically hires for property construction and update work from a preferred list of contractors. She could not immediately confirm the company's overall investment budget for upgrades to the property.

PAC is a publicly traded REIT that owns and manages multifamily properties throughout the country, with three in other Florida cities. The Village at Baldwin Park was bought through subsidiary Main Street Apartment Homes.

This is the company's second acquisition in Orlando, following a September 2015 purchase of the 346-unit CitiLakes Apartments on S. International Drive for $63.35 million (or $183,092 per unit).

The Baldwin Park purchase breaks down to $209,753 per unit. A loan package worth roughly $77.8 million was sourced from Prudential Capital Corp. for the deal, which matures in January 2019. The subsidiary Main Street plans to refinance the asset with a long term mortgage insured by HUD.

PAC announced the Baldwin Park purchase formally on Jan. 5 via press release, but didn't include the sale price, which became public on Thursday morning via deed records filed with Orange County.

Houston-based developer Morgan Group was the previous owner and manager of The Village at Baldwin Park.

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