Cortland Buys Property in Hometown, Eyes Nashville, Tennessee

Cortland, an apartment giant based in Atlanta that is growing aggressively in the United Kingdom, is adding to its hometown portfolio and eyeing Nashville, Tennessee, for its next deal.

Cortland acquired Echo Lakeside and has renamed it Cortland Peachtree Corners. The 296-unit apartment complex is in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, about 12 miles northeast of Lenox Square mall in Atlanta. The seller was Brand Properties, which completed the project earlier this year. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Jim Knight, Cortland's director of investments for Georgia, Tennessee and Ohio, said the company acquired the property for several reasons, including its location in the city of Peachtree Corners, which incorporated seven years ago.

"It's a nice-sized asset being 296 units [with] a creative design and quality construction," Knight said in an interview. "The property is close to Atlanta, but at the same time it offers a very suburban feel."

In the past year, Cortland has pivoted its growth strategy to include more of a balance among acquiring older properties and renovating them, buying new core-plus communities and building apartments from the ground up.

Looking ahead, Cortland continues to seek acquisitions in markets with growing populations and new job creation such as Nashville, where the firm is considering three potential buys, Knight said.

"We're eager to add additional assets in Nashville," he said.