Middleburg Communities is bolstering its capacity in the Southeast with the appointments of three new development partners.
“We remain very bullish on both our core markets throughout the Southeast and the continued strength in rental housing fundamentals,” said Chris Finlay, founder and CEO of the Vienna, Virginia-based real estate investment firm. “We are taking this opportunity to enhance our development team by adding tremendous professionals with demonstrated track records of performance. We intend to leverage this local ‘boots on the ground’ approach to significantly increase our development pipeline and enhance our overall performance.”
Middleburg, with a focus on multifamily and build-to-rent housing, has 14 projects with more than 4,000 units under construction and an additional 11 projects under development with near-term starts. It currently targets eight metro areas in the Southeast and Sun Belt and is seeking to expand its development efforts in these markets given increased demand due to strong job growth and net migration.
The newly added partners will leverage the firm’s development activity in the Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; and Tampa, Florida, metros. They include:
J. Spencer Merritt in Raleigh: With nearly two decades of development experience, he joined Middleburg in September. He most recently spent four years at East West Partners, where he served as partner. He has been based in the market since 2016 and has previously worked at North Pine Management, FD Stonewater, Johnson Development Associates, and Hitt Contracting.
Ross Magette in Richmond: He joined the firm this month after more than seven years at FCP, where he rose from associate to senior vice president. He has over 13 years of development and construction experience, including at AvalonBay and Donohoe Construction Co.
Tim McEachern in Tampa: He joined the firm in August and previously served as managing director of development at LIV Development, where he developed 11 Class A communities with 3,100 units in Florida. McEachern, who also previously worked at Regions Bank, brings 25 years’ experience in developing, constructing, and financing multifamily and commercial projects.
“As one of the most active developers and builders of rental housing over the last year or more, we have seen how our diverse and complete capabilities allow us to perform when many other firms are slowing down,” Finlay added. “We will continue to scale our business by adding these excellent development partners, and also look to add geography over the medium term.”
