The Millennia Cos. hit a milestone in 2016, with its portfolio reaching 20,000 affordable housing units as an owner and a property manager.
The Cleveland-based firm accomplished this by adding 33 developments with 4,630 units to its portfolio last year.
“2016 was our biggest year,” says Frank Sinito, CEO of Millennia, which specializes in project-based and Year 15 acquisitions.
Sinito adds that nearly half of last year’s growth was due to the acquisition of a large portfolio from Knoxville, Tenn.–based LHP Capital. The portfolio included 10 properties with 2,192 units in Alabama, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. The majority of the portfolio, six properties, was scattered through Tennessee, a new market for Millennia.
The number of units acquired last year pushes Millennia to No. 4 on this year’s AHF 50 owners list and to the top of the acquisition list. It also ranks No. 4 on the list of companies completing substantial rehabs.
2017 is shaping up to be an even bigger year for the firm. Millennia plans to add a portfolio of nearly 37 affordable housing properties consisting of 4,500 units, including 1,700 in Florida and the rest in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, and Tennessee. The firm plans to take these properties straight the preservation process. It also will be acquiring and preserving additional projects in Maryland and New Jersey, two more new markets for Millennia.
In addition, the firm plans to complete substantial rehabs on six developments with 1,197 units this coming year.
To keep up with the growth, Millennia continues to add high-level positions and staffing across the vertically integrated company, with 128 new employees last year.
“Each time you make a large portfolio acquisition, like last year and this year, there’s always a reassessment of the company internally and externally, and new staff is added,” Sinito says. “Typically, we will move experienced executives and vice presidents to oversee the new portfolios and hire new vice presidents to oversee legacy projects.”
