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Newsroom
Alex. Brown Realty, Inc. partners with the Madison Group and CLD Properties to acquire two apartment complexes in suburban Lansing, Michigan
Contact: Tom Burton
(410) 547-3009
tom.burton@abrealty.com
Baltimore, MD (September 18, 2006) – Alex. Brown Realty, Inc. (ABR), a national real estate investment company, has entered into a joint venture with the Madison Group and CLD Properties to acquire two garden-style/townhouse apartment complexes in Okemos, Michigan, a suburb east of Lansing and Michigan State University. The joint venture acquired Meridian Meadows, a 220-unit complex on a 21-acre site, and Okemos Station, a 112-unit complex on a 14-acre site. The 332 units at the two complexes have a combined occupancy rate of 90%. ABR provided an equity investment of $3.57 million to the venture. Debt financing was provided by Barclay’s Capital. Joel Mazur of Meridian Capital Group, LLC arranged both the equity and the debt for the project.
This investment marks ABR’s entry into the Lansing area market and its first joint venture with the Madison Group and CLD Properties, both Michigan-based owners and operators of value-added real estate assets. “Lansing – particularly the Okemos submarket – offers attractive demographics,” said Tom Burton, ABR’s chief investment officer. “Our underwriting shows stable population growth, a strong public school system, and an affluent and a well-educated population base - - due to the influence of Michigan State University.”
The two complexes were acquired at a significant discount to replacement cost from a large, national real estate investment trust that owns and operates multifamily products across the country. “While both complexes are well-maintained, we believe that Madison and its property management partner, CLD Properties, will be able to achieve operating efficiencies that are difficult for larger, national owners,” commented Burton, “With this acquisition, we see an excellent opportunity to invest in a market with solid fundamentals and create value by applying a more focused, hands-on management approach.”
“This acquisition is a great fit for our real estate portfolio," said John Prugh, president and CEO of ABR. "Pursuing value-added investment opportunities in joint venture with local operators has been our investment strategy for more than 30 years. Our relationship with Madison Group allowed us to acquire Meridian Meadows and Okemos Station on an 'off-market' basis and enhance the geographic diversification of our portfolio. We look forward to a long-standing partnership with their firm."
Alex. Brown Realty, Inc. (ABR) is a privately owned real estate investment manager organized in 1972 and headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. ABR co-invests with joint venture partners in properties in a broad spectrum of property types throughout the United States. www.abrealty.com
The Madison Group, founded in 1999 and based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a diversified real estate company specializing in acquisitions, investment analysis, as well as asset and property management. Its $250 million-portfolio of owned and managed value-added income assets includes multi-family residential, senior living, student housing, retail and office holdings.
Founded in 1991, Meridian Capital Group LLC is one of the nation’s largest mortgage brokers serving the multifamily and commercial real estate sectors. The company is based in New York City with additional offices in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Illinois, Florida, and California. Working with a wide variety of lenders, Meridian finances transactions ranging from $500,000 to more than $500 million for multifamily, co-op, office, retail, hotel, healthcare, self-storage, industrial, and construction properties. Nationally, Meridian reported more than 2,500 transactions in 2005, totaling over $16 billion.
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