Elia Zinn visits many apartment communities and often zips through them to get to the leasing office and get down to business. But that wasn’t the case when he visited Edgewater on Lanier in Gainesville, Ga. earlier this year.
Zinn, a general partner at the real estate investment firm, Griffin Fund, says when he first visited the property, he was stunned by the community’s beauty.
“It was gorgeous,” he says. “The first place I stopped was right at the bottom of a hill overlooking the lake and I just stood there looking at the lake for five minutes.”
The Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company purchased the 180-unit community in September for $8.4 million and a vision to leverage the lakefront into a stunning luxury amenity package.
The company was attracted to the Gainesville market, which is Northeast of Atlanta, because it was lacking luxury communities, Zinn says.
“We see demand there, but we couldn’t find a lot of high-quality product,” Zinn says.
And the lake sweetened the deal allowing the company to create a product focused on showcasing the waterfront of the 38,000-acre lake.
A short-term boat parking area will be part of the new amenity package.
The property, which was built in 1986 and is about 9.8 acres, underwent light renovations over the years, but it was in desperate need for an upgrade, Zinn says. Atlanta-based Stonemark Management will manage the property through the renovations and after.
“Some interiors were renovated and some landscaping and they redid the pool a little bit, but nothing like what we’re going to do,” he says.
The pool area and clubhouse will be completely gutted except for the foundation of the pool. The clubhouse will be reworked into a business center and fitness area with a lounge overlooking the lake. Inside the units, upgrades to countertops, flooring and fixtures will compliment all new appliances.
The entire renovation will cost the company about $2 million.
