A California multifamily investor has staked its first claim in Atlanta.Passco just purchased Sundance Creek apartments (above) at 575 McDonough Pkwy. for $14.1M  from Principal Insurance, according to DataBank. Principal itself ?assumed ownership? of the property in June from the previous owner, says DataBanks? Alan Wexler. Built in 2004 and formerly called Oxford Creek, the 232-unit property sale was brokered by Engler Financial?s Greg Engler, Pat Jones, and Kris Mikkelsen.

Speaking of Passco, we spoke with a former Lane Co.  exec who now runs the show for Passco in Atlanta. Scott Levitt, here in his conference room at 14 Piedmont Center, joined in Jan. '09 and runs the company's acquisition division for the Southeast, including properties he acquired in Orlando and Montgomery, Ala. Scott, who left Lane in 2006 and was with Southeast Capital Partners until 2009, says Passco is hungry for more  multifamily investments in the Southeast. ?The fundamentals seem to be improving," Scott says. "We're buying A properties in major markets and also considering secondary and tertiary markets.?