The Garden Apartments, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Size: 71 apartment units

Repositioning: From Class C- to Class B

Status: Turnaround complete

Turnaround timeframe: 2 years

Occupancy increase: From 34% to 100%

Structure Capital, LLC purchased The Garden Apartments in June 2010 as a Class C- property with obvious deferred maintenance, a very dated/dirty look, and severe management problems.

The property sustained roof damage in Hurricane Wilma. Due to insufficient insurance coverage and lack of capital reserves, prior ownership had been unable to recover financially from the damage and repair costs. Consequently, the property had gone into foreclosure and was being managed under receivership. Structure Capital negotiated a short sale with the property's lender.

The turnaround plan included a significant amount of cosmetic repairs and improvements to the property exterior and a cosmetic rehabilitation of the unit interiors.

Capital projects included a comprehensive redesign of the color scheme, significant exterior concrete repairs, replacement of three roofs, the removal of a damaged maintenance shed from the central gardens, replacement of all soffit vents, installation of new railing in the second floor balconies, resurfacing the driveways, rehabilitation of the community pool including an extension of the pool deck, creation of additional internal concrete walkways, relocation of the property office, and extensive landscaping redesign.

We also undertook an intensive marketing campaign to reposition the property to a much higher demographic segment of the local market.

Structure Capital completed the bulk of the turnaround plan in two years. By June 2012 the property was stabilized at 90%+ occupancy and climbing. The Garden Apartments is currently a Class B community.

The property's turnaround has also been instrumental in improving the local neighborhood. We received accolades from local community leaders for our role in improving the local community. In 2015 several Class A+ developments were completed in the immediate area.