Transaction creates one of the largest affordable housing platforms in Southeast
Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 22, 2016 – Charlotte-based investment and development firm Fitch Irick Partners has acquired GEM Management and an affiliated portfolio of 188 affordable housing properties, creating one of the largest companies specializing in the development, management and ownership of affordable housing in the Southeast.
GEM Management, also based in Charlotte, provides property management services for a portfolio of approximately 8,500 multifamily units in the Carolinas, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. One of the largest affordable housing management companies in the Southeast, GEM has been in operation for 25 years, and its executive team, led by Gary Ellis, will remain in place.
As part of the transaction, Fitch Irick Partners has also acquired the ownership interest held by the principals of GEM in 188 multifamily properties with more than 6,000 units. GEM Management will continue to manage those properties as well as a third-party portfolio totaling nearly 2,500 units. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
“This is an exciting and transformative acquisition for Fitch Irick Partners,” said Hollis Fitch, managing principal. “GEM Management is a highly regarded property management firm that will add value for our residents and stakeholders and complements our growing development business.”
Fitch Irick Partners was formed in 2014 as an affordable housing development and investment firm. Through its development arm, Flatiron Partners, the company is currently developing 12 affordable housing projects in the Carolinas, Georgia and Virginia and has a pipeline of more than 1,000 units.
Fitch Irick Partners has held majority stakes in Flatiron Partners and Flatiron Holdings, an affiliated asset management firm, and recently purchased the remaining ownership interests, becoming the sole owner of both companies.