Lightstone Buys Apartments, Enters Three New Markets

The Lightstone Group of Lakewood today said a group entity has bought a portfolio of five apartment communities totaling 1,576 apartment units from Camden Property Trust.The Lightstone Group of Lakewood today said a group entity has bought a portfolio of five apartment communities totaling 1,576 apartment units from Camden Property Trust. Lightstone did not disclose the price.

Lightstone’s Value Plus Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. bought the properties, which are located in “the high growth” areas of Tampa, Fla., Charlotte, N.C., and Greensboro, N.C.

Joshua Kornberg, director of investments for the Lightstone trust, said he expects to increase tenants’ rent at the apartment units. “In these three markets, comparable properties that have performed interior and amenity upgrades are receiving monthly rents $40 to $100 per unit higher than those at the properties being acquired by the REIT,” he said in a statement. Kornberg said he expects “an influx of new renters due to the increased costs of home ownership.”

The Lightstone Group’s portfolio is spread across residential, office, retail, hospitality and industrial real estate assets. The company owns more than 25,000 residential units, 680 hotels and approximately 67 million square feet of office, industrial, hotel and retail properties in 46 states.