Bell Company Expands Triad Apartment Holdings

Greensboro-based Steven D. Bell & Company has significantly expanded its multi-family holdings in the Triad as part of a $163 million acquisition of 10 apartment communities containing 3,369 units.

A group of Bell-sponsored investors recently purchased a nine-property apartment portfolio with 2,753 units from United Dominion Realty Trust (UDRT). The sale included all eight of UDRT’s assets in the Triad and its one property in Memphis, Tenn. In a separate transaction, a Bell-sponsored ownership group purchased Lincoln Green Apartments, a 616-unit community on New Garden Road in Greensboro.

With these two transactions, Bell expands its Triad apartment portfolio to 13 properties.

The UDRT portfolio includes the Greensboro apartment communities of
Beechwood on Cottage Place, Lake Brandt on Lake Brandt Road, Northwinds on Lee’s Chapel Road, Park Forest on Brassfield Road and Steeplechase on Adams Farm Parkway.

Other Triad properties purchased were Deep River Point on Highway 68 in High Point and two Winston-Salem properties, Deerwood Crossing and Dutch Village, both near Peters Creek Parkway.

The 9th apartment community in the UDRT portfolio acquisition was Trails at Mt. Moriah, a property in Memphis, Tenn. The apartment portfolio was purchased in a joint venture with Wachovia Development Corporation. Wachovia Securities provided debt financing for the acquisition.

In a separate transaction, a Bell group purchased Lincoln Green, which consists of 616 one and two bedroom units. The property is situated on a 45-acre tract which includes two natural lakes and is adjacent to the 200-plus acre Guilford Courthouse National Park.

The Bell Group formed a joint venture with Nashville-based Covenant Capital Group to purchase the property, with Fannie Mae providing long-term debt financing. Bell and Covenant Capital have now collaborated on 16 real estate transactions over the last several years valued at approximately $280
million.

Bell Principal Jon Bell commented, “We are especially pleased that numerous Triad-area properties are part of these recent acquisitions. While we have been fortunate to expand our business across much of the Southeast in recent years, it is nice to do something right here at home when a good opportunity arises.”

All 10 of the newly acquired apartment communities will be managed by Steven D. Bell & Company. The new ownership groups plan to spend more than $8.5 million to renovate the properties, including kitchen upgrades and amenity enhancements.

Steven D. Bell & Company, with real estate investments throughout the Southeast and Texas, manages a portfolio valued at approximately $2.5 billion.
It consists of 30,736 multifamily units, 27 retail properties with more than 4,600,000 square feet and 15 senior living communities containing nearly 1,200 units.

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