Investors Management Group made its third acquisition in Greenville, South Carolina, with the $64.4 million purchase of the 305-unit Millennium Apartments from Millburn & Co., based in Salt Lake City, Utah, last month. The Los Angeles-based firm raised $35 million from over 200 investor clients across 20 U.S. states to buy the property.
The $211,000-per-unit acquisition appealed to IMG’s Founder and CEO Neil Schimmel because of its upside potential and “excellent price per pound relative to comparable sales, especially considering the property’s track record of high occupancy and strong operations."
Despite interest rate volatility, Schimmel is happy with its financing secured through Northmarq. Its non-recourse Freddie Mac loan carries a seven-year term, a four-year interest-only period, and a fixed interest rate.
“Due to the timing of when our Millennium acquisition went into contract, IMG was able to close last week with a fixed rate even more favorable than was originally planned,” Schimmel told Multifamily Dive.
IMG, which specializes in upgrading apartment properties, plans to spend $3 million on interior and exterior improvements at the Millennium Apartments. The property, built in 2008, provides one, two- and three-bedroom floor plans, which all have first-floor entries.
Strong growth
Over the past year, IMG has sponsored the acquisition of over 1,600 units totaling $300 million in transactions nationally. It owns and operates a $1 billion national portfolio of approximately 5,000 units.
The Millennium Apartments is IMG’s second acquisition in the Greenville area this year. In June, it bought The Whitley Apartments, a 250-unit asset in the suburb of Central.
“We've been focused on the growth along the I-85 'boom belt' for years,” Schimmel said in a release shared with Multifamily Dive. “There are so many factors — from affordability to quality-of-life features — that keep fueling growth upstate.”
Typically, IMG looks for certain characteristics in the markets where it buys, which include Portland, Oregon; Seattle; Denver; San Antonio, Texas; Greenville; and Charlotte and Raleigh in North Carolina.
“They are priced properly and they have an intrinsic value per pound, especially if you look at macroeconomic [factors] as opposed to micro,” Schimmel told Multifamily Dive in an earlier interview. “Those are markets that tend to be where Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and millennials are converging.”
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