Morgan Properties has paid $780.5 million for two portfolios encompassing 18 apartment communities and 4,724 units in four Sunbelt states, including three properties in South Florida and one in North Florida:

• Royal St. George, West Palm Beach (224 units)
• Seagrass Apartments, Jacksonville (396 units)
• Village Place, West Palm Beach (202 units)
• Windward at the Villages, West Palm Beach (196 units)

The remaining properties are located in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina:

• Carden Place, Mebane, NC (240 units)
• Chason Ridge, Fayetteville, NC (252 units)
• Creekside at Greenlawn, Columbia (222 units)
• Estates at McDonough, McDonough, GA (240 units)
• Forestbrook, West Columbia (180 units)
• Gable Hill, Columbia (180 units)
• Hampton Greene, Columbia (304 units)
• Haywood Reserve, Greenville, SC (292 units)
• Morganton Place, Fayetteville, NC (280 units)
• Parc at Flowing Wells, Augusta (346 units)
• Reserve at Kenton Place, Charlotte (210 units)
• St. Andrews Commons, Columbia  (336 units)
• Village at Cliffdale, Fayetteville, NC (356 units)
• Waterford, Columbia (268 units)

Morgan Properties plans to execute a $47.5 million value-add repositioning strategy the communities, which are a mix of Class B workforce, Class A upscale and garden-style. The new acquisitions bring Morgan Properties’ total owned- and operated-units to 10,540 throughout the Sunbelt.

“The Sunbelt region is booming right now, and these two portfolios presented a tremendous opportunity for us to increase our footprint in states that are undergoing high population and employment growth,” said Jason Morgan, principal of Morgan Properties. “As a company, we continue to play offense and proactively seek large portfolios that allow operational efficiencies and economies of scale.”

Photo: Seagrass Apartments, Jacksonville