Premier Sells 120 Apartments

Premier is pleased to announce that on June 30, 2018 it sold the Premier Village Apartments in Dover, Delaware to a New Jersey real estate investment company.  The sale price represented exactly double the acquisition price in 2009.   The property was both owned and managed by Premier and its affiliates.

At the time of acquisition from PNC Bank (as trustee), this 120 unit apartment complex was known as Generals Greene IV and was approximately 22% vacant.  The high vacancy and sub-institutional size of the property meant that Premier was able to make this purchase at an attractive price.  Debt financing was provided by Fannie Mae and equity was provided by Jonathan Cutler, the founder of Premier, and another private investor.  First Capital Realty acted as the broker for both the acquisition and the disposition.

Originally known as Generals Greene, this property was part of a larger community with a negative reputation.  Nonetheless, it was very well located across the street from the Dover Air Force Base and among the most affordable alternatives for Dover residents.  Premier began by rebranding the property, installing attractive fencing to demise it from the rest of the area, relocated the sales office, improved signage, brought in training for onsite staff, created a property website and increased advertising, and modestly improved the units on turnover.  In later years we would also paint the property with a new color scheme and add colorful awnings.  Within about 5 years, Premier Village was boasting occupancy consistently over 95% and generating 15%+ annual returns for the ownership.

Rents were raised modestly over the years, but we tried not to lose sight of our place in the community as a clean, safe, affordable place to live.  In that regard, Premier Village was truly a win/win – for the owners – and for the residents.  We are proud of that outcome.