Special Focus: Privately Owned Developers to Watch
Flaherty & Collins doubles apartment starts
This Indiana developer is extending its reach to the rest of the country by offering diverse types of multifamily housing.
By Eric Wong
(Apartment Finance Today, June 2005) Indianapolis – The key to Flaherty & Collins Properties’ explosive growth in the last few years is that it isn’t afraid to take on challenges.
“We’re staffed up and pursuing a lot of opportunities,” said CEO David Flaherty.
The developer, who’s based here, plans to build five projects totaling 1,438 units this year, doubling the four projects totaling 703 units started the year before. The company has increased its staff by 35% in the last two years, to more than 400 employees.
In the past year, Flaherty & Collins has also made many more business partners, including SunAmerica Affordable Housing Partners, Inc.; Bridge Property Management; NiSource Corporate Services; Lennar Properties in Miami and Atlanta; and Apollo Housing Capital, LLC.
These connections give Flaherty the confidence and know-how to tackle many different multifamily project types around the country.
“As a company, we’ll do Class B+ to luxury properties to [low-income housing] tax credit deals,” said Flaherty. “We’ve also moved into the condominium arena as well. We don’t have a cookie-cutter setup.”
Developing mixed-use properties will also be one of Flaherty & Collins’ main strategies for growth. The firm is pursuing retail developers who may have extra land or air space to build multifamily units on.
One such project is a new 53-story, 404-unit luxury high-rise being built over the 260,000-square-foot EpiCentre entertainment and retail center in Charlotte, N.C. Flaherty & Collins is joint-venturing on the development with the Ghazi Co, which is building the retail component. Construction began in April, and the first condominiums are expected to be available by late 2006.
Another growth strategy is to increase acquisitions. “Construction costs jumped up so quickly, making new [construction] projects harder to underwrite,” said Flaherty.
Properties added to the portfolio recently include the 404-unit Sir Winston Apartments in Indianapolis, and the 304-unit Waterford Apartments at Portage Trail in Akron, Ohio.
As the company expands its operations, Flaherty plans to be more involved in national apartment organizations.
Flaherty’s president, Jerry Collins, is a past president of the Apartment Association of Indiana (AAI).
Last year, Flaherty & Collins won a Prodigy award from AAI for outstanding design in affordable housing for the $40 million Millennium Place HOPE VI project in Muncie, Ind.
Flaherty & Collins, which was formed in 1993, has 60 properties totaling 12,000 units under management in six states.
For more information, visit www.flahertycollins.com.
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