"The brick-and-wood community has interesting one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans and mature landscaping," Gillespie says, pointing out the property also has a strong location with access to Interstate 35, Loop 1604 and FM 76. Situated 15 miles from Downtown San Antonio, it is close to US Army and Air Force bases' employment pools and military retirees plus a Toyota truck factory that opened in 2006.

Listing broker Tom Wilkinson, vice president of Houston-based KET Enterprises Inc., calls the renovation scheme a typical "Dreverization" program, in reference to Concierge founder and chairman Maxwell Drever. "I've known Maxwell Drever and Joe Gillespie for years and have seen their organization achieve dramatically better occupancy and cash flow because of their rehabilitation and repositioning strategies," he says, adding the company's upgrades typically not only improve the property, but also have a positive impact on the neighborhood. Jim Hurd of Houston Income Properties Inc. was co-broker for the seller.

Brant Smith, vice president of the Houston office of Capmark Finance Inc., arranged a 6% fixed-rate, five-year loan through Freddie Mac's Upgrade Acquisition Program. "We worked with Freddie Mac because part of their charter is to provide affordable housing focused on the workforce and Sable Ridge was attractive to them," he says.

Smith, who works with numerous apartment investors, cites Concierge's performance and responsiveness from its due diligence on the property to the funding. "We never had to wait on them for an answer, which allowed us to move a lot quicker through the lending process," he says.

Concierge describes itself as a value-add, counter-cyclical multifamily property investor specializing in attractive and affordable workforce housing. Known for having closed deals in as little as four days, it buys all classes of challenged apartment complexes from $10 million to $200 million, focusing on class C and class B properties.