Region/SOUTHEAST Q: What opportunities have you found in the Atlanta market?
A: There's been a rebirth of living in the city. People can now go within a few miles [of their homes] and go to a grocery store, Target, Wal-Mart, and cool restaurants. Atlanta is very livable, coupled with the fact that traffic [commutes] have gotten so bad. In '96, we did the first condos in Atlanta in [nearly] 15 years and everyone said, ‘You are stupid; you are going to lose money.' That was actually our best deal. People thought I was stupid doing 89 units then, and now they're doing 1,500 to 2,000 units.
Q: Who do you consider your toughest competitors?
A: One that I think does as good a job in terms of quality and execution, if not better, would be Wood Partners. I consider them the benchmark and am impressed with anything they do. We are building a project close to them in the Poncey Highland area, a mile east of Midtown, and I consider them true competition.
Q: What demographics do you target?
A: Gen Y mostly, but it depends on the property. We target price points. If we look at the affordability pyramid, we want to be between 5.5 and 7. That has different meanings depending on what submarket or market you are in.
Q: How do you compete against national players?
A: We typically buy sites that are not on the market. We target areas and then we target a [specific] property. That's how we end up buying versus getting a package from a broker. Also [unlike the national players], each project we do is completely different from any project we have done in the past. For example, The Manhattan condominiums is very modern. Directly behind it we built a very traditional brownstone community called The Gramercy Townhomes. We tie our properties into their surroundings.
Q: Do you plan to expand into any new markets?
A: Yes, we want diversity. You tend to get so micro-focused on submarkets. You feel comfortable doing that and [then] you run out of opportunities, especially on the development side. It's not as bad if you go and buy two existing apartment buildings in a submarket, but if you go build two, that's a whole different story. We plan to look at Florida first because there is a lot of opportunity [there]; I am not sure if we are too early yet. We're also looking at Charleston, S.C., Savannah, Ga., and Nashville.
Q: What are your company's growth plans?
A: We have 21 employees, and we want to stay small. I'd love to have a management company; I don't want the personnel. I'd love to have a marketing team; I don't want the personnel. If you get too big, then instead of managing projects, you are managing people. Our goal is not to be larger than 25 people, so we've got four more to go.
Q: What would you be doing if you were not in the multifamily industry?
A: High school football and baseball coach.
About the Company
What: Develops rental and for-sale infill housing
Founded: 1993
Headquarters: Atlanta
Employeees: 21
2007 revenue: Declined to state
Units owned: 323 (as of Dec. 1)
Units in development: 1,850
Geographic coverage: Atlanta
About the Project
Project: The Gramercy Town-homes
Location: Atlanta
Units: 185 condos
Price: $300,000s to $400,000s
Notable: Located within the 44-acre, live/work/play Perimeter Place; 10-foot ceilings; pool deck with fireplace