ATLANTA — An affiliate of Ram Realty Partners III LP, a fund of privately held multifamily investor Ram, has acquired Aventine at Vinings and Aventine at Ashford, two metro Atlanta apartment communities, for a combined $70.4 million. Ram’s management company has assumed the day-to-day property management services for the communities and is rebranding the properties as Rock Creek at Vinings and Rock Creek at Ashford, respectively.
“These properties represent a classic value-add opportunity for Ram’s investors, where improving the lifestyle experience for residents will, in turn, result in stronger property operating performance,” says Casey Cummings, CEO of Ram. Ram is an affiliated group of companies and partnerships that acquire, develop, manage and finance retail and residential properties in the Southeast.
Rock Creek at Vinings is a 403-unit garden-style apartment community, located in the Smyrna/Vinings submarket of Atlanta. The property was built in 1991.
Rock Creek at Ashford, built in 1987, is a 222-unit garden-style apartment community located in Atlanta's Brookhaven submarket. Rock Creek at Ashford is within one mile of three major hospitals collectively known as Pill Hill. Ram will soon update interior finishes and community amenities at both properties.
“While we have invested in Atlanta since 2007, these new acquisitions will benefit from significant new demand drivers. State Farm Insurance has signed several recent large leases in the Central Perimeter market, bringing hundreds of new workers in close proximity to Rock Creek at Ashford,” says Jim Stine, chief investment officer at Ram. “The Braves’ new stadium and related mixed-use development on 60 acres is located just two miles from Rock Creek at Vinings and is projected to generate more than $400 million in additional investment.”
The law firm of Greenberg, Traurig represented Ram in the acquisition negotiations. PNC National Bank provided acquisition financing.
Since its founding, Ram has raised three closed-end private equity real estate funds: Community Reinvestment Partners LP, Ram Realty Partners II LP and Ram Realty Partners III LP, which targets distressed and value-add retail and multifamily properties in select high-growth markets in the Southeast. Since 1996, Ram has deployed $1.7 billion in real estate transactions. Ram is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and has offices in Fort Lauderdale and Tampa in Florida and Charlotte, N.C.
— John Nelson