Which do investors want more in greater Charlotte, Class-A or Class-B apartments? Neither, ARA principal Blake Okland tells us. They’ve been going after As for a while, but as those opportunities dwindle, Bs will do quite nicely. (The sale of Alpha-Bits cereal is also through the roof.)

Blake says that 2012 and 2013 were dominated by new urban infill properties showing tremendous effective rent growth and correspondingly high sale prices—that would be the Class-A—setting records seemingly with each new sale in the major transaction MSAs (Charlotte, Raleigh, Charleston, Greenville). “As a result, performance in closer-in Class-B properties has followed suit, and demand for well-located, value-add opportunities is very strong.” (If it's a property, someone wants it.)

Recently Blake, along with colleagues Dean Smith, John Heimburger, and Sean Wood, repped Grubb Properties in its sale of the Class-A Apartments at Quarterside in Uptown for more than $31M; not long before that, ARA brokered the sale of Beacon Hill, a Class-B property in Charlotte for nearly $20M. Now, Blake says, ARA is completing the marketing process on a well-located value-add in South Charlotte, where very few properties ever come to market, and “we’ll complete nearly 50 tours in the 30-day marketing window.” (That's one way to start exercising for bathing suit season.)