Listen to this articleA Rochester company last week purchased 132 rental townhomes valued at $20.3 million, according to a property appraisal certificate.
The Georgetowne Townhomes, essentially a residential development in north Rochester, were purchased by Black Swan Real Estate from a company based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
The 132 units are spread over 16 acres and are split between two lots – a reference to the two phases in which they were built. The Georgetowne Townhomes consist of 100 units and the remaining 32 are called Georgetowne Square, said Nick Stageberg, the principal of Black Swan.
The property, located at 2670 Georgetowne Place NW, offers either two- or three-bedroom apartments and a garage. Stageberg said 87 of the apartments are income restricted to 60% of the area median income. Rent ranges from $1,395 to $1,695, according to a listing on Apartments.com.
Stageberg said Black Swan likes to buy townhomes and the Georgetowne apartments caught his eye because he drives past them on his way to work. He said Black Swan previously bought another affordable townhome lot in Rochester, now called Dakota Townhomes, and built a townhome lot in Byron called Stone Haven Townhomes.
About half of the units have been renovated, Stageberg said in an interview with Finance & Commerce on Monday. Renovations will continue, Stageberg said, as tenants gradually change over. They will follow a similar plan to the Dakota, installing stainless steel appliances and replacing carpet with vinyl flooring.
“I would say that in Dakota and in Georgetowne, we want to bring the real estate up to market rate, including the affordable housing,” Stageberg said, noting that Olmsted County has a decent amount of affordable housing. “We have a pretty big economic incentive to make things as nice as possible and create as much value as possible.”
Black Swan has been on a buying spree of sorts, acquiring mostly smaller properties throughout Rochester. As Finance & Commerce previously reported, Black Swan purchased the 29-unit Uptown Apartments for $5.35 million in April of this year, while in May 2023 they purchased the 32-unit Colby Manor Apartments for $2.4 million. The group also purchased the 129-unit Residence at Discovery Square building for $26.9 million.
Stageberg said Black Swan operates as a private equity fund, albeit with an indefinite holding period, and that the group has not yet sold any properties.
“When you think of private equity funds, I think of something like Wall Street charts,” Stageberg said. “I grew up in Rochester and we’re based in Rochester… when we buy our properties like Georgetowne, we buy properties that we want to hold for the long term, that we believe it will serve the community if we own and operate those assets locally.”
Black Swan plans to manage the property internally.
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