CHALLENGE
During the 3rd quarter of 2013, Torchlight Investors filed for receivership to oversee the leasing and management of their three-building portfolio in the northeast submarket of Indianapolis, known as Allison Pointe. Halakar won the bid as receiver and was put to task with vastly improving the properties and finding a way to reduce the vacancy rate, while repositioning their soured impression on the market. At the time our receivership began, the overall occupancy of the portfolio was a mere 35%, which yielded a sizeable undertaking ahead of us.
ACTION
In general, buildings that reach the receivership stage tend to be in poor shape physically when it comes to deferred maintenance as these kinds of properties have commonly been neglected for any length of time. The Allison Pointe buildings were definitely no exception and required a great deal of improvements to get their appearance back to present day, as well as operating more efficiently. It was of utmost importance to this lender that we put their capital to good use, as the goal was to then sell the portfolio package for a profit years down the road, once stabilized.
RESULTS
We re-engineered the HVAC systems of all three buildings, implementing state-of-the-art wireless control systems that will greatly reduce energy consumption and maintenance costs. Immense cosmetic improvements took place in all common area restrooms, corridors, and lobbies that had been neglected for decades. These areas were in dire need of updating in order to make these buildings more attractive to prospective occupants. Over time, we continued to successfully acquire new tenants and renew leases of current tenants, causing the occupancy rate to grow steadily each quarter.