For the second time in a month, a Philadelphia real estate equity fund has purchased a major apartment complex in Chattanooga to tap into what investors insist is a strong suburban market in Chattanooga for multi-family housing.
Springer Capital, which owns 21 other apartment complexes from Pennsylvania to Alabama, bought the Autumn Brook apartments in Hixson this month for $14.7 million – or 36% more than the $10.8 million that the previous investment group from New York paid for the property in November 2016.
“We see Chattanooga as a strong market and we like the access and visibility of this site and we see this as a good investment vehicle for our partners,” Thomas Farnoly Jr., a principal in Springer Capital, said Friday. “We’re pretty excited about this project.”
Built in 1989, the Autumn Brook Apartments at 5555 Hixson Pike include 156 one- and two-bedroom apartments grouped in six three-story buildings erected around a swimming pool, clubhouse, dog park and laundry facility. The average apartment includes 1,052 square feet and currently rents for between $800 and $940 a month, Farnoly said.
The purchase comes just a month after Springer Capital purchased the Rainbow Creek apartments in East Brainerd for $9.1 million.