LEXINGTON, KY-Sterling American Properties Inc. has purchased three multifamily properties from Comprehensive Management Services for approximately $53 million. Consisting of three apartment complexes, the portfolio includes the 480-unit Raintree Apartments, the 396-unit Stoney Falls community and the 232-unit residential complex known as the Stoneybrook Apartments.

Jeff Smith, vice president of acquisitions for Sterling, tells GlobeSt.com that Lexington's solid economy, which he calls "practically recession-proof," attracted the firm to the area. "The local economy is based on horses, tobacco and bourbon," he says. "But there is also mining and a Toyota plant approximately 30 miles away."

The properties were built between 1989 and 1996, and include studios, one- and two-bedroom units, as well as a swimming pool, a club house and a fitness center. Smith says the company will invest $2 million in capital improvements during the first 18 months of ownership in order to "bring the property up to B+ or A- status."

The seller was represented by Holliday, Fenoglio Fowler LP. The team of Matthew Lawton, senior managing director, and Marty O'Connell, Dave Nachison and Sean Fogarty, all directors, marketed the property.