Continental Realty Corporation (CRC), a Baltimore-based real estate investment and management company with a portfolio value exceeding $3.5 billion, has announced the selection of Rachel Brooks Young as Asset Manager, Multifamily. Young, who brings nearly 10 years of diversified commercial real estate and asset management experience to CRC, formerly worked in Asset Management for Hudson Capital Properties in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Young will oversee the financial performance of a portion of CRC’s multifamily portfolio in Georgia and the Carolinas. This includes working closely with the Multifamily Acquisitions team to onboard new assets, assist in the underwriting processes and leverage data from within the existing portfolio to help shape strategies on the buyside. Young will work from the Raleigh area, where CRC owns and manages The Edison Lofts, St. Mary’s Square Apartments, The Village Apartments and St. Mary’s Square North Apartments.

In addition to Hudson Capital Properties, Young handled asset management responsibilities for CAHEC Management and JP Morgan, while also working as an Acquisitions Real Estate Analyst for Lidl. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and her Master of Public Policy from George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government.

“We selected Rachel because she brings institutional experience from JP Morgan, a track record of overseeing a complex tax credit portfolio at CAHEC, and most recently she has managed a stabilized market-rate class A portfolio in many of the southeast markets where we also operate,” said Elisabeth Mygatt, CRC’s Director of Multifamily Asset Management. “Over her nearly 10 years in the industry she has developed skillsets that will allow her to make an immediate positive impact on our team.”

Continental Realty Corporation (CRC), a Baltimore-based real estate investment and management company with a portfolio value exceeding $3.3 billion, has appointed Natasha Fryar as Regional Portfolio Manager in the North Carolina region. Fryar, who brings more than 10 years of diversified residential real estate experience to CRC, was formerly Regional Portfolio Manager for Elmington Property Management in North Carolina.

In her new role, Fryar will function as a point person for issues related to the daily operations of CRC’s four multifamily communities in the greater Raleigh metropolitan area. This involves reviewing the performance of critical metrics such as closing ratios and apartment turn times pertaining to each asset, conducting on-site assessments to enhance community aesthetics, providing training and mentoring to all team members, and leading and motivating the team and all vendor groups. Fryar will work from the Raleigh area, where CRC owns and manages The Edison Lofts, St. Mary’s Square Apartments, The Village Apartments and St. Mary’s Square North Apartments.

In addition to her time at Elmington Property Management, Fryar held management-level positions with HallKeen Management, Housing Management Resources, and American Residential Investment Management. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Management from Capella University and holds the designations Accredited Residential Manager (ARM), Certified Apartment Portfolio Supervisor (CAPS) and Certified Property Manager (CPM). Fryar also sits on the board of the local Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) chapter.

“Throughout her career, Natasha has supervised a diverse portfolio of residential assets, including student and workforce housing, and she recently assisted in the acquisition and management of several high-profile projects,” explained Amy Asuquo, CRC’s Director of Property Management, Multifamily. “This demonstrated success, combined with her tremendous inter-personal skills, overall industry knowledge and familiarity with the Raleigh market, made her the ideal candidate for this important role. Natasha’s local presence in this extremely competitive and rapidly-developing marketplace will enable her to keep a finger on the pulse of the area and conduct regular in-person inspections of all company assets.”

Continental Realty Corporation (CRC), a Baltimore-based real estate investment and management company active in 10 states, has purchased its eighth multifamily community in North Carolina with the recent $96.3 million acquisition of Sycamore at Tyvola, located at 707 Sycamore Centre Drive in Charlotte. Developed by Switzenbaum & Associates and delivered in December 2018, the 288-unit four-story elevator-serviced community was 95.5 percent leased at the time of this transaction.  As part of the acquisition, CRC will assume the in-place 40-year amortizing fixed-rate HUD loan at a 2.96% interest rate with a mortgage insurance premium.  Michael Saclarides of Cushman &Wakefield represented the seller.

This is the second asset purchased on behalf of the Core Multifamily Fund, LP, a private equity fund sponsored by CRC. The open-ended fund, focused on stabilized or near-stabilized opportunities, was formed to identify and acquire Class “A” garden and mid-rise communities located in the southeastern United States with top-quality finishes and amenities. The Core Multifamily Fund completed its initial Founders Investor Closing last year, raising approximately $145 million. CRC subsequently acquired St. Mary’s Square North Apartments, a 65-unit multifamily community in downtown Raleigh for $36.5 million last summer.

Through its various funds, CRC has acquired more than $1.2 billion worth of retail and multifamily assets in the last 10 years. In total, CRC owns and self-manages over $3.3 billion in real estate nationally, with heavy concentration in the Southeast.

With this acquisition, CRC owns and self-manages approximately 1,600 apartment units throughout North Carolina, with three multifamily communities in Charlotte, including The Flats at Ballantyne and Park & Kingston. Additional North Carolina assets include The Edison Lofts, St. Mary’s Square, The Village Apartments and St. Marys Square North Apartments in Raleigh, and The Reserve at Mayfaire in Wilmington.

Low density, large apartment units, patented building design

Located west of Interstate 77 with frontage on Tyvola Road, Sycamore at Tyvola consists of one- and two-bedroom floorplans. With average unit sizes of 1,042 square feet, the property has among the largest units within its competitive set. The unique building design provides twice as many corner units as traditional multifamily product and delivers better exterior views and increased sunlight for its residents. This design differentiates the property from traditional three-story walk-up multifamily properties.  In addition, the apartment community sits on 31 acres. The 9 units per acre is 70% less dense than most of the competitors providing residents with plenty of open space.

Each unit features nine-foot ceilings with crown molding and best-in-class interior finishes. These unit features include a stainless-steel appliance package, granite countertops, kitchen islands with bar-top seating, wood-style plank flooring, panoramic windows, and full-size washer/dryers in a dedicated laundry room inside the apartment.

Community amenities within the gated community include a large resident clubhouse, a state-of the-art fitness center which is open on a 24/7 basis, an event space, spin studio, yoga and barre room, conference room, business center and secure digital package-acceptance lockers. Outdoor amenities include a swimming pool with sun shelf, poolside lounge, tennis court, putting green, BBQ area, grilling pavilion, fire pit, dog park and wooded walking trails.

Asset situated within vibrant, amenity-rich corridor

“Sycamore at Tyvola is standout product from a best-in-class developer and is located within a rapidly growing submarket of Charlotte. The property is being acquired with an in-place loan, providing long-term fixed rate financing well below current market rates,” stated Ari Abramson, CRC’s Vice President of Acquisitions. “Sycamore at Tyvola is in a logical path of growth submarket to the south of Uptown and South End and to the north of White Hall and Berwick.”

“Sycamore at Tyvola was constructed as a generational long-term hold resulting in design features that are above market standards,” stated JM Schapiro, CRC’s CEO. “The developer’s building design along with the location and superior amenity package, truly differentiates the subject property from other properties in the area. With the long-term investment profile of the Core Multifamily Fund, this is a prototypical deal for this fund.”

Overview of $144 million Core Multifamily Fund

Core Multifamily Fund, CRC’s seventh fund, is focused on acquiring newly developed properties constructed between 2018 and 2022 in high-growth suburban and urban markets throughout the Southeast, including Charleston, Charlotte, Nashville, Raleigh, Orlando, and Tampa.

“Our first two acquisitions for the Core Multifamily Fund are located in North Carolina, and based on shifting population, corporate relocations, enduring job growth and overall positive economic conditions in Southeast markets. Our vertically integrated team will continue to survey the region for compelling long-term hold opportunities,” Schapiro said. “The fundamentals continue to top the charts in the Southeast, with relocations due to cost of living and quality of life. Through our innovative use of data analytics, we have seen a migration to the Southeast from other areas of the country and can calculate this impact on the pace of absorption of newly delivered assets.”

Continental Realty Corporation (CRC) has earned the national 2023 “Top Workplaces USA Award,” based on confidential feedback generated from a team member survey administered by Energage, LLC, a Philadelphia-based research firm that specializes in organizational health and workplace improvement. This represents the third consecutive year in which the Baltimore-based commercial real estate and investment company - which is active in 10 states across the country - has been recognized with a national honor for workplace excellence. CRC was recently named a “Top Workplace” by The Baltimore Sun Media Group for the tenth consecutive year and placed 15th overall in the mid-size employers category, which includes companies with 150 to 399 team members.

Energage administered a process that gathered responses to a 24-question employee survey that measured workplace issues including alignment, coaching, connection, engagement, leadership, performance, benefits and training, with 173 CRC team members responding. More than 42,000 organizations across the country were invited to participate and fewer than three percent successfully earned the Top Workplaces designation from Energage, which analyzed the data to identify 147 winners in the small, midsize and large categories.

CRC was also recognized with two cultural badges for ranking in the top 25% of employers in the “Clued-In Employees” and “Open-Minded” categories. These awards reflect the sentiment among CRC team members that they feel well-informed about important decisions being made, and that the company encourages different points of view.     

A key CRC mission is to organize, execute and evaluate tangible programming that emphasizes an open and engaging work culture, fosters engagement that makes a meaningful and long-lasting difference in the communities where the company operates, promotes team member wellbeing and health, and encourages team member empowerment. The company consistently encourages diversity and inclusion in its workplace and supports local philanthropic activities that benefit wide-ranging demographic audiences.

“The real estate industry is relationship-based and people-oriented and we consider our team members as our most valuable and important resource,” stated Crystal Frey, CRC’s Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Shared Services. “The advantage of having passionate, loyal and hard-working professionals makes a meaningful difference in all phases of our business and is particularly evident when providing timely services to CRC residents, tenants and related stakeholders.

“Receiving national recognition for our efforts to create and preserve a workplace environment that promotes team member empowerment and rewards hard work and extra effort provides validation to our processes and is extremely gratifying,” Frey added. “We remain committed to identifying and retaining the best and brightest workforce which, in turn, translates into exceptional performances and services that benefit our customers.”

Continental Realty Corporation (CRC), a Baltimore-based real estate investment and management company with a portfolio value exceeding $3.3 billion, has announced the selection of Eugene Wu as Data Scientist.

In this role, Wu will be an integral part of advancing the firm’s use of alternative data sets, data science and prop tech. For several years, CRC has been committed to data-driven decision making on the investment side of the business, as well as on operations. As a vertically integrated real estate platform, CRC has been an early adopter of a wide range of technologies and data-focused solutions.

With more than ten years of data science experience, Wu will further elevate CRC’s capabilities by bringing new perspectives and accelerating several strategic initiatives. Prior to joining CRC, Wu was the Principal Data Scientist for Markerr, a real estate-focused data analytics start-up headquartered in New York City.  Wu was a founding partner at Real Factors, a data analytics company that was acquired by Vista Equity Partners. He has also worked in research and valuations at Ellington Investment Management Group and started his career as a portfolio analyst at BlackRock, where he specialized in sourcing alternative data sets to provide insights on distressed assets.

“There are new and evolving data sets all around us that are leading indicators on how an area is transforming, how populations are shifting, how consumers are spending and how peoples’ habits are changing, and information arbitrage is the new competitive advantage in our business,” stated Haley Donato, VP of Asset Management & Finance. “Eugene is an outstanding addition to our team, and we know he will significantly advance our efforts in this space. He has impressive technical skills and is also a creative thinker with a unique ability to find the intersection between big, innovative ideas and practical application.”      

Wu earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics-Statistics from Columbia University. He will work from CRC’s offices in New York City, where he has resided for many years.

Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland and founded in 1960, CRC is a full-service commercial real estate and investment company focused on acquiring and operating retail and multifamily properties. The privately held firm owns and manages a diversified portfolio of retail centers consisting of more than seven million square feet of commercial space and approximately 9,000 apartment homes across 11 states, with a portfolio value exceeding $3.3 billion. For additional information, visit www.crcrealty.com.

Continental Realty Corporation (CRC), a Baltimore-based real estate investment and management company, has announced the selection of Samantha Lange as Acquisitions Associate in the Multifamily division. She was formerly Manager of Acquisitions for Fogelman Properties.

Lange will support the activities of CRC’s Multifamily Acquisitions team in its ongoing efforts to identify, analyze, and acquire value-add and core multifamily investments in targeted submarkets throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast portions of the US. Her responsibilities will include screening new multifamily opportunities, assessing markets, overseeing the economic analysis, underwriting, and monitoring the due diligence process. Lange will also play a role in post-closing activities and in efforts to transition recently acquired assets to CRC’s Asset Management and Operations teams.

Lange brings more than eight years of direct acquisitions, asset management and financial experience in the multifamily sector to CRC from her previous work at Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and Starwood Property Trust/LNR Partners, LLC. During a one-year period at Fogelman Properties she helped identify and close nine acquisitions, valued over $300 million. While serving as team lead for the Atlanta field office of Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, Lange participated in the origination of more than 150 multifamily loans, valued at more than $3 billion.

She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from the University of Georgia.

“With the recent closing of our $146 million Core Multifamily Fund, LP open-ended fund in conjunction with Brown Advisory, as well as other closed-ended value-add private equity funds, our team has ongoing capacity to acquire both newly constructed core and value-add multifamily assets in our target markets,” stated Ari Abramson, CRC’s Vice President, Acquisitions. “The addition of a highly knowledgeable and capable professional, such as Sam, to our team will enable us to more effectively consider and act upon opportunities to execute our corporate long-term growth objectives. Sam’s most recent experience serving in a similar role, coupled with her tenure in several fast-paced financial and real estate environments, provide us with extreme confidence in her ability to immediately contribute and function as a key member of our team.”