This Week's Atlanta Deal Sheet: Cortland Pays $71M For Armour Yards Apartments
Atlanta-based multifamily giant Cortland purchased an Armour Yards apartment complex for around $170K per unit.
Cortland purchased 415 Armour Drive for more than $71M from California-based CWS Capital Partners on April 10, according to records filed with the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority.
The Worthing Cos. developed the 372-unit property, which was previously called Heights Armour, in the early 2000s. CWS purchased the project from Worthing in 2014 for $52M, according to Fulton County records.
Cortland has since rebranded the property as Cortland at Armour Yards. CEO Steven DeFrancis told Bisnow the purchase was made by the firm’s $1.5B value-add fund. Cortland plans to spend about $100K per unit on renovations.
“We’ll have a basis which is two-thirds of replacement cost, which is essentially a new asset and on the BeltLine when that opens next year,” DeFrancis said.
DeFrancis said the timing is ripe to invest in multifamily, given the glut of new deliveries has tamped down rent growth and fundamentals, prompting sellers to offer better pricing.
“There’s a lot of negative fundamentals, but on the backdrop of really strong demand growth,” he said.
Cortland is under contract to purchase a stake in a Buckhead apartment tower from Flow, the multifamily operator founded by WeWork founder Adam Neumann, Bisnow reported this week. DeFrancis declined to comment on the pending transaction.
FINANCING
Atlanta-based private equity firm Woodvale has launched a $100M second opportunity fund focused on southeast and central U.S. hotels, apartments and “transitional commercial properties with compelling upside,” the firm said in a press release.
The new fund comes on the heels of Woodvale's first $100M opportunity fund raised in 2023 that it used to purchase four Marriott-branded hotels in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.
“The year 2024 was marked by dislocation and illiquidity — a perfect storm for well-capitalized and strategic investors,” Woodvale Vice President Bashir Mansour said. “We believe the buying window remains open, and Fund II will capitalize on this opportunity.”
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Woodfield Development and Vida Cos. obtained a $3.5M, 10-year tax break from Develop Fulton, the economic development arm of Fulton County, for a $77M apartment project. 840 Woodrow is set to include 326 residential units, 66 of which would be income-restricted, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. It is also planned with 20K SF of commercial space aimed at small businesses and startups.
The project will rise on 5 acres off Woodrow Street near Adair Park in Atlanta.
LEASES
Real estate brokerage firm Keller Williams Realty inked a 12K SF lease for a regional office at the Lee + White mixed-use project in the West End. The firm's South Atlanta regional office will move to the 1070 building from its current offices at 3800 Camp Creek Parkway.
Partners Real Estate’s Porter Henritze and Melanie Garlock represented the landlords, MDH Partners and Ackerman & Co. JLL’s Joey Kline represented Keller Williams.
DEVELOPMENT
Lincoln Property Co. broke ground on The Shoppes at The Gathering, a 44K SF retail center a mile from Downtown Alpharetta. The project will include seven retail buildings along Haynes Bridge Road and an outdoor lawn for live music and public events.
The retail project is part of The Gathering mixed-use development that includes single-family and townhomes being developed by Brock Built. It will add supply to a historically tight market for retail space.
PERSONNEL
Atlanta multifamily operator RangeWater Real Estate has tapped Brian Soss as the firm’s new executive managing director of acquisitions. Prior to RangeWater, Soss served as co-head of multifamily asset management for Starwood Capital Group, where he executed more than $6.5B in transactions.
