Fairfield-based Woodmont has been primarily a developer and manager of its own apartment communities. The deal with Lowe represents a branching out that will continue, said Eric Witmondt, Woodmont's CEO.

“We will apply the Woodmont standard to Abitare, which is nothing short of the highest quality of resident services, as well as property management and marketing,” said Witmondt, who will be a panelist at the Sept. 17 RealShare NJ conference in New Brunswick.

“It is because of our consistent, sustained growth throughout the last six years that we are able to both build and manage our growing apartment portfolio as well as work with strategic partners to add value at other communities,” Witmondt said.

Earlier this year, Woodmont named Marla Posey as regional property manager for its apartment portfolio. Abitare will be one of the communities Posey will oversee.

Abitare is located in Voorhees Town Center, a mixed-use development built in 2009. The center includes 732,000 square feet of high-end retail - an enclosed mall anchored by Macy's and Boscov's and “The Boulevard” retail shops

Abitare was completed in 2011. It has studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging from 650 square feet to 1,743 square feet spread out among nine buildings, each three- to four-stories high.

The apartments have full-sized washer and dryers, high-speed Internet, nine-foot ceilings, wall-to-wall carpeting and walk-in closets. Amenities include an outdoor swimming pool, the clubhouse with a 24-hour fitness center, kitchens, a business center and a game room. There are 158 underground garage parking spaces and 677 surface parking spaces.

Voorhees, a community of 30,000 residents, is situated 11 miles east of Center City, Philadelphia.