PHILADELPHIA — Counter Capital Management paid $19.1 million for 1501 Locust St., a 29-unit apartment building that adds to the firm’s growing presence in Center City.
With this acquisition, Counter Capital, of Westport, Conn., has spent more than $80 million accumulating a portfolio of multifamily properties in Center City. The company, previously named Dalzell Capital Partners, now owns eight buildings with a total of 227 apartment units and plans to grow its presence in Philadelphia.
The property at 1501 Locust dates back to 1947, when it was originally an office building. In 2010, Pearl Properties converted it into apartments and sold it. It has three commercial units.
Last summer, Counter Capital picked up four properties in two separate transactions — 1310 Spruce St., 1311 Spruce St., Queen Village Lofts at 427 Monroe St., and the Bradford, a 26-unit apartment development at 507-515 S. 8th St. It also owns Waverly Court at 412-26 S. 13th St., 1430 South St. and 514 South St.
The company buys properties that are more boutique in size, to create and maintain a sense of community that connects tenants to a property. It also invests in upgrades at each property. For example, at Waverly Court, Dalzell is making more than $1 million in exterior and interior renovations, such as creating a uniform facade across the building, upgrading common areas, and renovating its 27 original units. “It’s a lot of work,” he said.
Waverly Court will also be renamed Keppoch House after a town on Prince Edward Island familiar to Dalzell.
The new purchase at 1501 Locust is newer than some of the other properties Dalzell has acquired and won’t need as much work as Waverly, for example. “We will look at common areas and see what we can touch up,” Dalzell said. “Lighting is something we will focus on immediately and look to add a couple of amenities and improve upon a canvas that Peal created. They did the hard work and we get to benefit from that.”
The building was fully occupied at the time of sale. Ken Mallin and Josh Nadel of MPN Realty Inc. arranged the transaction.
