last year

The properties, which total more than 2,000 units in Alabama, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas, had a "whisper price" in the $170-million range, Holiday Fenoglio Fowler senior managing director Matthew Lawton told GlobeSt.com when the properties were first put up for sale. "But with today's capital markets, who knows? MetLife is looking to maximize the dollars." A sixth property in Arizona placed on the market at the same time was not included in this transaction.

HFF offices in Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Houston teamed up to close the sales with Lawton heading the investment sales team. Producers in each region directed the marketing efforts: directors Marty O'Connell and Dave Nachison were in the Midwest, director David Fournier and associate director Jason Nettles in the southeast, and directors Bill Miller and Roberto Casas in the southwest.

"HFF pulled together key producers from each of the regions totarget the broadest range of investors," Lawton says. Collins Group, LLC, a private investment group based in New York City, purchased Inverness Landing free and clear of debt. Inverness Landing has 322 units and is located off Highway 280 at 100 Inverness Lane in Birmingham, AL.