New York-based Mercer Street Partners purchased the Hopper Lofts at 700 Everett St. in Manchester for $14.3 million. (J. Elias O’Neal)
A New York-based real estate investment firm has come back to Richmond for another deal.
Mercer Street Partners last week acquired the Hopper Lofts, a 139-unit apartment complex at 700 Everett St. in Manchester, for $14.3 million.
Joe LeVine, Mercer Street managing partner, confirmed the deal. The property was most recently assessed by the city for $14.1 million.
Hopper Lofts originally was developed by Tom Wilkinson of Maramjen Investments LLC, who was one of the earlier adopters of adaptive re-use development in the Manchester area.
Wilkinson said he was approached by Mercer Street through a mutual attorney the two firms use.
Hopper Lofts originally was developed by Tom Wilkinson of Maramjen Investments LLC. (J. Elias O’Neal)
“They said they were in the market to buy, and I told them to take a look at Hopper Lofts,” Wilkinson said.
After a year under contract, Mercer Street purchased the apartment complex and two surface parking lots totaling about an acre at 804 Everett St. and 814 Maury St., LeVine said. The parking lots have about 100 spaces that serve as free parking for Hopper Lofts residents.
The buildings that house Hopper Lofts were built in 1921 and 1939, respectively. The two industrial buildings sit on a city block bounded by Commerce Road and Everett, Maury and East Seventh streets. Wilkinson converted them in 2013 into 98 one-bedroom and 41 two-bedroom loft units.
Wilkinson, meanwhile, is nearing completion on his latest project, Port City, a 150-unit, $30 million redevelopment of the former American Tobacco campus at 800 Jefferson Davis Highway in South Richmond.
“I’m in my 70s, and it’s time that I start liquidating some of my assets,” Wilkinson said. “I’ve got enough going on at American Tobacco and in Petersburg to keep me busy for a while.”
LeVine said Mercer Street has hired Richmond-based Dodson Property Management to handle leasing and site management of Hopper Lofts.
LeVine said the two parking lots could also be valuable chips to play in the future, either to sell or develop.
“There is no master plan for the property,” LeVine said. “But everything is in the cards.”
Levine said the apartments are approaching an occupancy rate in the mid-90 percent range, up from the mid-80s when the property was placed under contract.
Photo of Hopper Lofts courtyard area. (Courtesy of Mercer Street Partners)
Mercer Street is looking to invest over $250,000 to update Hopper Lofts’ common areas and plans to maintain and upgrade several of the property’s amenities, such as its fitness center, theater room and clubhouse.
“The team is excited to roll up our sleeves and make some improvements over the next five months,” LeVine said. “We’re really confident in the market and pleased to see what’s occurring in Manchester.”
The Hopper Lofts transaction marks Mercer Street’s third investment in metro Richmond and its fourth overall in Virginia.
The firm purchased The Spectrum, a 103-unit apartment building at 2017 Brook Road near Virginia Union University, in February 2017 for $11.4 million.
In December 2017, it acquired controlling interest in the Perry Street Lofts, a 149-unit Petersburg apartment property redeveloped by Wilkinson in 2011 for an undisclosed sum. It also purchased a 71,000-square-foot medical office building in Virginia Beach for $9.9 million.
In all, LeVine said the firm has invested about $50 million in Virginia – with 90 percent of that spent in metro Richmond.
“What surprised us was how much energy is in the market,” LeVine said. “The breweries, the growing dining scene … not to forget the low unemployment and high quality of life. We continue to be impressed with Richmond.”
New York-based Mercer Street Partners purchased the Hopper Lofts at 700 Everett St. in Manchester for $14.3 million. (J. Elias O’Neal)
A New York-based real estate investment firm has come back to Richmond for another deal.
Mercer Street Partners last week acquired the Hopper Lofts, a 139-unit apartment complex at 700 Everett St. in Manchester, for $14.3 million.
Joe LeVine, Mercer Street managing partner, confirmed the deal. The property was most recently assessed by the city for $14.1 million.
Hopper Lofts originally was developed by Tom Wilkinson of Maramjen Investments LLC, who was one of the earlier adopters of adaptive re-use development in the Manchester area.
Wilkinson said he was approached by Mercer Street through a mutual attorney the two firms use.
Hopper Lofts originally was developed by Tom Wilkinson of Maramjen Investments LLC. (J. Elias O’Neal)
“They said they were in the market to buy, and I told them to take a look at Hopper Lofts,” Wilkinson said.
After a year under contract, Mercer Street purchased the apartment complex and two surface parking lots totaling about an acre at 804 Everett St. and 814 Maury St., LeVine said. The parking lots have about 100 spaces that serve as free parking for Hopper Lofts residents.
The buildings that house Hopper Lofts were built in 1921 and 1939, respectively. The two industrial buildings sit on a city block bounded by Commerce Road and Everett, Maury and East Seventh streets. Wilkinson converted them in 2013 into 98 one-bedroom and 41 two-bedroom loft units.
Wilkinson, meanwhile, is nearing completion on his latest project, Port City, a 150-unit, $30 million redevelopment of the former American Tobacco campus at 800 Jefferson Davis Highway in South Richmond.
“I’m in my 70s, and it’s time that I start liquidating some of my assets,” Wilkinson said. “I’ve got enough going on at American Tobacco and in Petersburg to keep me busy for a while.”
LeVine said Mercer Street has hired Richmond-based Dodson Property Management to handle leasing and site management of Hopper Lofts.
LeVine said the two parking lots could also be valuable chips to play in the future, either to sell or develop.
“There is no master plan for the property,” LeVine said. “But everything is in the cards.”
Levine said the apartments are approaching an occupancy rate in the mid-90 percent range, up from the mid-80s when the property was placed under contract.
Photo of Hopper Lofts courtyard area. (Courtesy of Mercer Street Partners)
Mercer Street is looking to invest over $250,000 to update Hopper Lofts’ common areas and plans to maintain and upgrade several of the property’s amenities, such as its fitness center, theater room and clubhouse.
“The team is excited to roll up our sleeves and make some improvements over the next five months,” LeVine said. “We’re really confident in the market and pleased to see what’s occurring in Manchester.”
The Hopper Lofts transaction marks Mercer Street’s third investment in metro Richmond and its fourth overall in Virginia.
The firm purchased The Spectrum, a 103-unit apartment building at 2017 Brook Road near Virginia Union University, in February 2017 for $11.4 million.
In December 2017, it acquired controlling interest in the Perry Street Lofts, a 149-unit Petersburg apartment property redeveloped by Wilkinson in 2011 for an undisclosed sum. It also purchased a 71,000-square-foot medical office building in Virginia Beach for $9.9 million.
In all, LeVine said the firm has invested about $50 million in Virginia – with 90 percent of that spent in metro Richmond.
“What surprised us was how much energy is in the market,” LeVine said. “The breweries, the growing dining scene … not to forget the low unemployment and high quality of life. We continue to be impressed with Richmond.”
It’s good to see significant outside investment in Richmond. Mercer has done a wonderful job turning around what was a disaster at The Spectrum.
Sadly, your headline writer appears to be indifferent to the difference between gross revenue and net revenue. I doubt that the sale netted the seller anywhere close to the purchase price; the sale amount was the gross amount, not including costs. By why am I having to offer instruction to a business journal about this difference?
Me too. I only read this to see how someone made 14 mil flipping one property.