Rebranding and growing
Apartment company Cortland has been on a buying spree in the Houston area.
Cortland Partners is making a name for itself in Houston.
The Atlanta-based apartment investment, development and management company has more than doubled its Houston portfolio with the acquisition of a dozen properties totaling 3,500 units this year.
Now the company, which entered Houston in 2012, is rolling out a rebrand with a new logo and shorter name that will start to appear on its properties beginning in late October. The first properties to be renamed are Stratus Cinco Ranch, which will become Cortland Cinco Ranch, and Sovereign at Cinco, which will be called Cortland Seven Meadows. Cortland North Haven in Cypress will follow in November.
“To date, we have 20 communities across the Houston area representing almost 6,000 units,” said Cortland executive vice president of investments Ted Collie. “Having more assets in a market gives us more resources to provide a better service to our customers.”
The company has invested about $575 million in Houston properties so far this year, Collie said. Most recently, Cortland acquired Club at Copperleaf, Lighthouse
“Having more assets (allows us) to provide a better service.” Ted Collie, executive vice president of investments
at Willowbrook and Villas at Coronado from a Gaia Real Estate-led partnership.
Only Houston-based Nitya Capital has invested more this year on multifamily assets in Houston, according to Real Capital Analytics.
Cortland’s investments make up a large portion of the $2.9 billion investors have spent on apartments in the Houston region through the first half of 2018, according to Real Capital Analytics. That’s up from $2 billion in the first half of 2017 and compares with $4.6 billion for 2017.
Cortland has started to buy new developments that are still in the lease-up phase in Houston and other markets, Collie said. The properties will provide another option to Cortland tenants as they move.
“We like the idea of concentration in the markets that we are committed to being in,” Collie said. “We would like our residents to move with us through their life as they move through town.”
Cortland, which handles its own construction, design and property management, owns 138 apartment properties totaling more than 49,000 units in the U.S. Other big markets include Dallas, Orlando, Tampa and Raleigh, and it’s also growing in Austin, San Antonio and Denver.