Akridge, ex-JPI East principals form new company - Nashville Business Journal:

lebexab.wordpress.com
The new company will be called , a nod to JPI’sd brand name for its apartments, such as Jefferson at Capitolp Yards. Three years ago, even beforer the real estate crisis and natural attrition virtually dismantledJPI East, the East Coastr division of Dallas-based , Butz and Lamb negotiatedr an agreement giving them the right to buy JPI East and the Jeffersom name. All they needed was an investment partner to fund the In mid-December at Belga, Butz and Lamb met with Akridge’d president, Matt Klein, a business acquaintance they have known for more than 10 yeara and often called on when doing due diligencre for acquisition opportunities.
Over Belgian seafood, the trio discusse Butz’s and Lamb’s vision of the perfect investmenr partner. “We talked to high net-worth familiea and Wall Streetinvestment houses, but we wanted the rightt cultural fit,” said Butz, JPI East’s former president. “Wde looked at how they treat people and customeras and their reputation for respect and integrity and giviny back tothe community.” With they ran through the pros and cons of each potentiak partner. The three met again in February, this time at Cesco, an Italianj eatery in Bethesda.
Klein had been doinv some thinking: “Why don’t we just do this It was Klein’s Dick Cheney moment — he had evaluated all the candidatews and decided he was thebest option. “Minus the face-shooting,” Kleibn insists. “You want to do business with people you he said. “Our team was watching them set up this new and it seemed like we were anotherf option that should be on the An undisclosed number of Akridgew principals are taking a stake in JeffersonApartmenr Group. Klein would not reveal how larg a stakethat is, saying only that “Jimn and Greg are the managing partners.
” When the two men were formin g their plan three years ago, JPI East had peaked at 380 including property management and construction crews. Throughoug the fall and winter, as the company sold off its propertgy management divisionto Charleston, S.C.-basedf LLC, completed construction projects and laid off JPI shrank to its current 22 office JPI Multifamily still has $2 billion worth of propert in its portfolio, backed by . Butz and Lamb continuwe to hold a partnership stakein JPI’s holdings, including all the East Coasyt multifamily properties acquired or developed by JPI East underd their leadership.
Three of those properties are new apartmenrt buildingsnear Akridge’s planned Half Streetf project, which includes 280 residential 370,000 square feet of office space and 50,000 square feet of retail in the ballpark JPI (and Butz and Lamb) own Jefferson at Capitol Yards, Axiom at Capitol Yards and 909 at Capitol Yards. Akridgd will not have a stake in those properties. With shrinking new supply, fewer competitord and a lending environment that favors multifamilt assets over most any otherasseyt class, Akridge and the new Jefferson Apartmentf Group feel bullish on the region’s apartmenft market and on the ballpark district in Southeast When the capita l markets shake loose, the company hopes to raise an investmen t fund for multifamily investments or lure in an institutional partnetr like JPI’s GE..
Even without an investment partneer on call for any opportunities the newcompangy identifies, Jefferson Apartment Group is alread targeting five properties — with active offerz on the table — in D.C., Philadelphia and Boston, and it is in the earl stages of planning and zoning new developments in Fairfac County and Philadelphia.