
The James apartments span 11 acres just north of where North Belvidere Street crosses Interstate 95 and turns into Chamberlayne Avenue. (Mike Platania photos)
One of the goliaths of New York finance has taken a bite out of Richmond’s apartment investment market.
An entity tied to investment firm Blackstone Inc. bought The James apartment complex at 1415 Chamberlayne Ave. for $44.7 million, city property records show.
The deal, which matched the property’s most recent assessment, was recorded with the city Monday.
The 10-year-old complex houses 270 apartments, making for a per-door sale price of about $166,000. It sits on 11 acres and is made up primarily of six four-story apartment buildings.

Originally built as The Collegiate in 2012, The James apartments are targeted toward VCU students.
With over $881 billion in assets under management, Blackstone is a behemoth in the alternative investments industry. Per its website, Blackstone invests in real estate, private equity, hedge funds and credit instruments, with $279 billion of those investments being in real estate. Blackstone refers to itself as “the largest owner of commercial real estate globally.”
The James apartments were built in 2012 by Trinitas Ventures, a student-housing-focused developer out of Indiana. Initially called The Collegiate, the development rose on a former mobile home park that was once owned by disgraced local developer Justin French.
In 2014, Trinitas sold the apartments to another New York firm, Candlebrook Partners, for $33.6 million.
Candlebrook was the seller in the deal with Blackstone.
Requests for comment sent to Blackstone weren’t returned by press time.

The James apartments span 11 acres just north of where North Belvidere Street crosses Interstate 95 and turns into Chamberlayne Avenue. (Mike Platania photos)
One of the goliaths of New York finance has taken a bite out of Richmond’s apartment investment market.
An entity tied to investment firm Blackstone Inc. bought The James apartment complex at 1415 Chamberlayne Ave. for $44.7 million, city property records show.
The deal, which matched the property’s most recent assessment, was recorded with the city Monday.
The 10-year-old complex houses 270 apartments, making for a per-door sale price of about $166,000. It sits on 11 acres and is made up primarily of six four-story apartment buildings.

Originally built as The Collegiate in 2012, The James apartments are targeted toward VCU students.
With over $881 billion in assets under management, Blackstone is a behemoth in the alternative investments industry. Per its website, Blackstone invests in real estate, private equity, hedge funds and credit instruments, with $279 billion of those investments being in real estate. Blackstone refers to itself as “the largest owner of commercial real estate globally.”
The James apartments were built in 2012 by Trinitas Ventures, a student-housing-focused developer out of Indiana. Initially called The Collegiate, the development rose on a former mobile home park that was once owned by disgraced local developer Justin French.
In 2014, Trinitas sold the apartments to another New York firm, Candlebrook Partners, for $33.6 million.
Candlebrook was the seller in the deal with Blackstone.
Requests for comment sent to Blackstone weren’t returned by press time.
I hope they plan some investments; it is known as a horribly managed facility that was poorly built. Tenants have had to reach out to local media to get basic repairs. LOTS AND LOTS of rot around the windows and doors on the units.
45 Million. What a rip