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Here’s a look at the region’s 10 largest owners of apartment units as of March, according to research by Charlotte-based Real Data.
MAA is a Tennessee-based real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns 5,001 units in 18 Charlotte-area communities. Nationally, the company owns more than 79,000 units in 15 states. The average occupancy rate for MAA properties in Charlotte is 96.7%. H. Eric Bolton Jr. has been CEO since 2001. MAA has agreed to buy Post Properties Inc., creating a combined company valued at $17 billion, including debt.
Founded in the mid-1960s by Gene Ratchford, the Gastonia-based company owns 4,443 units in 21 Charlotte communities, not including its Triangle Real Estate properties listed below. The average occupancy rate in the Charlotte market is 97.6%. A third generation of the Ratchford family is now involved in the business.
Weinstein Properties of Glen Allen, Va. was founded in 1962 by Marcus Weinstein, who is now chairman. His daughter, Allison Weinstein, is co-president and CEO. The privately held company owns and manages approximately 16,000 units in North Carolina, Texas and Virginia, including 4,420 in the Charlotte area. Weinstein Properties also owns two shopping centers and two office parks in Virginia.
This Atlanta-based real estate investment firm was founded in 2005. In March 2015, it acquired nine Charlotte apartment complexes with 3,265 units for $273.9 million, or about $84,000 per unit. It now owns 3,005 units in eight communities in the Charlotte market. Its local occupancy rate averaged 82.5%.
Camden, one of the largest publicly traded apartment companies, has 2,753 units in 12 Charlotte communities. Nationally, it has about 60,000 units in nine states. Founded in 1982, the Houston-based company went public in 1993. Richard Campo has been the CEO since 1993.
This San Diego-based company owns more than 53,000 units in 42 states, including 2,524 in the Charlotte area. The average occupancy locally is 96%. Greg Pinkalla is the current president and CEO. The company’s majority owner is Brookfield Asset Management, a Toronto-based company that manages more than $200 billion.
The privately held company is affiliated with the Ratchford family of Gastonia, which also owns Southwood Realty. The company has 2,468 units in 13 Charlotte area properties with an average occupancy rate of 97.7%. Nationally, Southwood and Triangle own 78 communities with more than 16,000 units.
The Atlanta-based company is being acquired by MAA for about $4 billion. About 1,748 of its 24,000 units nationally are in five Charlotte communities. Average occupancy is 95.9%. The company was founded in 1971 and targets higher-income tenants, with average rent of about $1,500 per month.
Based in Dallas, Westdale has 1,672 units in seven Charlotte communities. It operates several more in other parts of North Carolina. Nationally, the privately held company has 200 apartment and office developments in 30 cities with a collective value of more than $4 billion. CEO Joe Beard co-founded Westdale in 1991.
Lex Marsh, a native of Marshville in Union County, built his first apartment in Charlotte in 1928 and his company has been a force in local real estate ever since. Continuing to expand after Marsh’s death in 1993, the company owns 1,618 units in eight communities, mostly in neighborhoods within five miles of Charlotte’s center city. It also owns neighborhood shopping centers and office buildings. Average occupancy in its apartments is 94.8%. Jamie McLawhorn has been president since 1996.
