Gulf Drive Townhomes
A 44-unit garden style with 1980s unit finishes and <25% below market rents. With $1.5M in capex, we renovated units to modern finishes, replaced major systems and roofs, built a new playground, & more.
Project details
The Acquisition
In Q3 of 2018, Gulf Drive Townhomes was acquired by Oliver Properties for $2.4M. The property was a garden style cul-de-sac community consisting of 44 units, which was previously utilized as graduate student housing by a seminary school. Oliver Properties entered into a 3-year agreement with the school to retain the use of the property for their students. During this time, the focus was on achieving high occupancy rates and conducting upkeep maintenance to control costs until the building could be turned to market rates. The property had outdated finishes, old appliances, a deteriorating playground, and roofs, gutters, HVAC, and water heaters reaching the end of their lifespan. Rents were on average 25% below market rates.
The Execution
In 2022, after the agreement with the school had ended, Oliver Properties conducted a renovation of 4 units, each representing a different floor plan type. This was to test the market and determine the capex needed to bring the property to full market rates. After proving the market would support higher rents, Oliver Properties began executing a $1.5 million capex budget to bring the property to full market rates.
Oliver Properties began with management-intensive overhauls due to the property's lack of an on-site office but large garden-style layout, which required creative processes to provide residents with a high-end management experience on resource constraints. Creative operational processes were rolled out in maintenance, management, and leasing. The marketing and online presence were also overhauled with professional photography, videography, personalized touring videos, waitlists for leasing at full occupancy, and more.
The capex development plan involved renovating kitchens and baths from the 1980s to a modern standard, adding dishwashers, replacing roofs and aging HVAC systems. Oliver Properties modified kitchens to fit dishwashers and offered washers/dryers in units to satisfy the market's needs for higher ROI. The property underwent a high-end roof replacement of 11 buildings, new gutters with leaf guards, HVAC replacements, interior renovations, landscaping overhauls property-wide, intensive drainage, and grading work. Oliver Properties offered two unit finishes to maximize ROI while controlling capex costs. These included a set of units with refinished counters and vanities and another set of premium units with granite, new vanities, and other touches such as new doors, ceiling fans, and bathroom accessories.
