Piedmont and American South Fund Management Announce Newest Investment in Florida; $12.5 Million to Develop Workforce Housing

The Preserve At Flagler Beach ground-up development to construct  240-unit garden-style workforce apartment community 

FLAGLER BEACH, Fla., June 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Funding has been secured to develop The Preserve at Flagler Beach, a 240-unit workforce apartment community located in Flagler Beach, Florida. The 240-unit apartment community project will be developed through a joint venture between Portage Real Estate and Piedmont Private Equity. This is Portage Real Estate's second partnership with  impact real estate funds managed by American South Fund Management (ASFM), a partnership between SDS Capital Group and Vintage Realty Company. With total development costs projected at $57 million, The Preserve at Flagler Beach is the first investment in Florida for ASFM impact funds. All 240 one, two and three-bedroom apartment units will be rented at rates affordable at 115% Area Median Income (AMI) or less, bringing critically-needed workforce housing to this community.

"The Preserve continues Piedmont's mission of providing quality housing to local communities," said Eric Conkright, Piedmont Private Equity. We will also be contributing over $600,000 for the construction of a new school and purchase of a fire truck as part of a comprehensive effort to uplift the community".

"The 240 units being added to the community through The Preserve at Flagler Beach is providing housing that is much needed by the community – quality housing that is affordable," said Deborah La Franchi, ASFM Managing Partner. "This development is perfectly aligned with ASFM's mission of providing quality affordable housing to families and individuals throughout the South." 

Impact funds managed by ASFM target their impact investments into distressed communities of color within a 10-state footprint across the South. Since 2018, impact funds managed by ASFM have made 16 investments in Texas, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana and Arkansas totalling $68 million and over $302 million of project costs to date.

"We are thrilled to expand our footprint in the South to the state of Florida," said David Alexander, ASFM Managing Partner. "Piedmont Private Equity and Portage Real Estate have proven to be excellent partners in achieving exactly the types of impacts within socio-economically disadvantaged areas that ASFM impact funds like to to make."

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Sybil MacDonald
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SOURCE American South Real Estate Fund