Memphis firm buys into local subsidized apartment market
A Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, apartment complex built in 1973 has a new name and owner who continues to invest in buying and renovating subsidized apartments in the Chattanooga area.
ALCO Management Inc., a Memphis-based investment and rental management company that operates more than 6,500 apartment units at 65 properties in nine states, bought the former Battlewood Apartments at 1830 Fant Drive across from the Walmart Neighborhood Center grocery in Fort Oglethorpe and recently renamed the complex The Crossing.
“This complex is right in the middle of Fort Oglethorpe at the crossing of Fant Drive and Battlefield Parkway and we thought the new name
really conveys the great location of this property,” ALCO CEO Berkeley Burbank said.
Like nearly all of ALCO’s properties, The Crossing is targeted at low- and moderateincome families who pay no more than one third of their income to rent the units and the government makes up the balance of what the Department of Housing and Urban Development determines is an adequate monthly rate for such apartments. The Crossing, which includes both two- and three-bedroom units, has 123 affordable units and 27 market-rate units.
“Affordable housing has long been a need in our country, and the pandemic has only extended the necessity,” Burbank said. “Our company mission is affordability and quality. We want to create a good atmosphere for people to live. The Crossing and Fort Oglethorpe fit well into that commitment.”
ALCO will qualify for tax-favored financing to buy and renovate the apartments through a variety of programs, including those offered in Tennessee by the Tennessee Housing Development Agency.
Since its start in 1974 by Frank Z. Jemison Jr., who remains the company chairman, ALCO Management has focused on the affordable housing market in the Southeast. In 2015, the company entered the Chattanooga area housing market by buying four apartment complexes, including three in Cleveland, Tennessee, and one in LaFayette, Georgia. ALCO has since renovated the units to extend their life.
In 2016, the company was involved in refurbishing the Bayberry Apartments on Wilson Street in Chattanooga and ALCO is currently working to buy and renovate the 142-unit Battery Heights Apartments on Campbell Ave. in Chattanooga. Alco currently has 621 apartments in the Chattanooga area, almost all of them targeted for Section 8 rental subsidies.
“A lot of the properties that we own were originally developed in the 1970s and ’80s and now we’re using the currently available resources from the government to renovate the units we have bought,” Burbank said. “In Chattanooga, there is a strong demand for affordable housing so in this market, all of our units are fully subscribed.”
At The Crossing, Burbank said he anticipates a significant renovation of the facility within the next three to five years, “but it certainly is a serviceable and attractive property right now that is nearly fully occupied.”
Burbank said ALCO is a long-term owner, which allows for investments in resident services that make ALCO communities stable and more durable.
ALCO communities often provide space for community organizations to operate on-site services. Battlewood Head Start and Early Head Start is co-located at The Crossing, a partnership begun by the previous owner and one that ALCO will continue. At The Crossing, Head Start provides childcare services to both residents and non-residents in Fort Oglethorpe.