Roberts Realty To Sell Addison Place Apartments For $60M

Roberts Realty Investors Inc. of Atlanta has agreed to sell Addison Place, a 403-unit apartment community in Johns Creek, Ga., for $60 million or $148,883 per unit. The complex, constructed in 2001, consists of 118 townhouses and 285 apartments. The buyer was not disclosed. After closing, expected at the end of June, the company intends to distribute approximately $17 to $19 million of the transaction’s $29 million in net proceeds. Stockholders will receive approximately $2.50 per share. “We’re holding $10 or $12 million as operating capital,” Charles S. Roberts, CEO of Roberts Realty told CPN today. “We’re going to use that to start two new multifamily properties.” Roberts Realty is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that develops, constructs, owns, manages and sells multifamily apartment communities. “We sell something every couple of years,” Roberts said. According to the company’s annual report for the year ended December 31, 2007, the company sold six apartment communities in 2004 and used some of the proceeds to acquire three tracts of land, while distributing 4.50 per share. The company sold another multifamily property in 2005 and invested in three retail shopping centers. “That’s just a parking place for cash, though,” Roberts said. “Our intention is to sell those retail centers this year.” The annual report noted that the company lost $3.41 million in 2007 and 3.85 million in 2006. The balance sheet in the annual report listed total liabilities of $77.6 million. The annual report attributed the losses to carrying costs for undeveloped land that is not generating revenue. Four of the company’s land sites are encumbered by loans totaling about $22 million. Roberts pointed out that property sales in 2004 plus the Addison Place transaction — if it closes as planned — will have returned $7.00 per share to stockholders. “That’s pretty good for a stock that trades between $6.50 and $7.50 per share,” he said. “It’s a different way of doing things. We distribute cash from sales of properties instead of paying dividends.”