CINCINNATI—Steadfast Apartment REIT just acquired Columns on Wetherington, a 192-unit apartment community located in suburban Florence, KY, just 15 miles outside of Cincinnati, for $25 million. The recently-founded, Irvine, CA-based REIT has now bought eight apartment communities, all in Midwestern and Southern states, for a total of $290 million.
Steadfast “focuses on stable, established apartment communities that are located in markets throughout the Midwest and South that exhibit strong economic growth,” Ella Shaw Neyland, president, tells GlobeSt.com. “Specifically, we target well-maintained communities that offer value to residents at affordable price points.”
Constructed in 2002 on about 17 acres, Columns on Wetherington has 21 apartment buildings and 11 single-story garage buildings. As of February 1, the average in-place rents were $1,023 and the occupancy was 92.7%. In addition, the community features resort-style amenities, including a clubhouse, fitness center, swimming pool, business center, outdoor basketball court, and access to a stocked fishing lake.
Company officials believe they can increase asking rents and plan to launch a modest revitalization program. They will complete the interior upgrades when turning the units between residents. Furthermore, they will improve common areas, provide new signage, a clubhouse upgrade, asphalt and concrete repairs and new pool furniture.
“Many markets throughout the South and Midwest have experienced positive economic gains in recent quarters, including population growth, improving employment, limited new apartment construction, and overall increase in consumer confidence,” Neyland says. Areas like the Cincinnati metro region, “posted solid job performance in 2014, and in fact, Cincinnati was one of the few metros in the region that saw gains in the education and health services sectors.”
And as reported in GlobeSt.com, user demand has tightened up both the industrial and office markets in the region. Vacancy rates have sunk especially low in the region's industrial properties and could accelerate new construction in the coming year. In the fourth quarter, the region saw users absorb 704,877-square-feet of industrial space, a particularly impressive number considering the already-low vacancy rate. The Greater Cincinnati industrial market has now seen 14 consecutive quarters of positive net absorption.
“Factors like these make markets attractive,” Neyland says.
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
