Igor Olenicoff, the owner of Newport Beach-based real estate firm Olen Properties and Orange County’s third-wealthiest person, is keeping his company on the growth path locally and out of the area.
The privately held owner and developer of offices, apartments and other commercial property recently completed the nearly $100 million buy of an apartment complex in the Atlanta suburbs.
It’s the company’s third reported acquisition in Georgia since late 2014 and among the largest commercial property deals reported in the Atlanta area over the past year.
Olenicoff said his company completed the purchase of AMLI at Milton Park this month, a 461-unit unit apartment community in Alpharetta, an affluent city about five miles north of downtown Atlanta.
The 14-year-old complex, whose nine buildings run about 443,000 square feet, traded hands for about $214,000 per unit. It was sold by Chicago-based AMLI Residential, a privately held firm that also has a complex in OC, a recently built property in the city of Orange.
The Alpharetta purchase was an all-cash deal, according to Olenicoff, who the Business Journal estimates has a fortune of about $4.2 billion (see stand-alone OC’s Wealthiest Special Report).
It’s Olen’s second rental property investment in Alpharetta, which is home to a number of technology firms and Fortune 500 companies, and the company’s third buy in Georgia in as many years. Olen’s apartment portfolio there is now a little more than 1,100 units.
“We are just thrilled with this one,” Olenicoff told the Business Journal, noting that the company beat out more than 20 bidders.
The complex, now known as Lakeside at Milton Park, was about 94% leased at the time of the sale, and its units have an average monthly rent of $1,377, according to marketing material by brokerage CBRE Group Inc.
Rental increases in Alpharetta are projected to be about 4.8% over the next five years, due in large part to “robust employment growth” in the immediate area, according to the marketing materials.
The Atlanta metropolitan area ranks third in the U.S. in recent job growth, according to CBRE data. The Orange County-Los Angeles region, where Olen owns just one rental complex, in Brea, ranks fourth.
Olen now owns nearly 13,000 apartments across the country. In addition to OC and Georgia, it has rental properties in Arizona, Nevada and in South Florida, where Laguna Beach resident Olenicoff has a home.
‘Off the Charts’
Apartments are just one source of Olenicoff’s wealth. His firm owns about 7.5 million square feet of office space, much of it in OC, plus other investments.
Olen is believed to have the second most real estate holdings of any privately held company based in OC, trailing only Newport Beach’s Irvine Co.
Irvine Co. Chairman and owner Donald Bren is OC’s richest person, with an estimated fortune of $17 billion.
It’s been an active few years for Olen on the acquisition front. The company has bought nearly $600 million worth of property since 2014, including office parks in Irvine and Aliso Viejo, according to Business Journal records.
It’s been a good time to invest in the company’s core markets, which have been some of the country’s best-performing areas in the past several years, Olenicoff said. In terms of real estate appreciation, “Orange County is off the charts, as is Florida, Atlanta, Phoenix and Las Vegas.”
“In short, business is booming,” said Olenicoff, who’s turned over much of the company’s operations to daughter Natalia Ostensen in the past few years.
The company’s been raising some debt “since it is a good time to do it,” with an eye on additional acquisitions here and in other markets, according to Olenicoff. He said a $260 million loan is nearly completed, among other deals under way.
Olen’s debt level isn’t high compared to others in the industry, he said. For instance, nearly $300 million in debt tied to the company’s trophy property, the 40-story One South Dearborn tower in downtown Chicago, was recently paid off.
Olen paid about $350 million for the Chicago skyscraper in 2006. It’s now likely worth nearly $600 million, Olenicoff said.
