In 1999, a successful business woman interested in developing apartments on property she’d acquired, gave us a call. She was the owner/operator of two thriving restaurants and wanted to diversify into real estate development. Though she had no previous development experience, she had acquired a well-located site in LaGrange, Georgia, gotten it properly zoned, hired a local draftsman and presented a site plan to an FHA mortgage lender for review. The proposed development was to consist of 28 identical 8-plex buildings, but the buildings and the site plan looked more like a military installation than the upscale property she desired to own. Her civil engineer, with whom we’ve worked over the years, suggested she might give us a call to help her develop the concept further, assist in refining the numbers and financing options, as well as aid her in assembling the rest of the development team.

As we began working together, we saw that her property had the potential to be “the top of the market” in LaGrange, attracting the highest rents and the most affluent renters. We brought in an architect and a decorator, both with considerable multifamily design experience; we also brought in a professional property manager from Columbus, Georgia, with more than 2,500 units of luxury apartments in its portfolio, to actually help us design the property for the market. Together, we completely redesigned the site, adding a large clubhouse and pool, a pond with fountains, several recreational features on site, garages and on-site storage options, as well as a variety of floor plans and building types. The result: Sun Ridge Apartment Homes set a new standard of quality, amenities and rent levels in that market.