Mixed-Use Asset Repositioning in Birmingham’s Lakeview District
When a Birmingham property owner engaged Engel Realty Company to manage a mixed-use development — combining residential apartments with ground-floor retail — the property was underperforming relative to its potential. Inherited from a previous management company, the asset carried deferred maintenance, unresolved operational issues, and several unrealized revenue streams.
When a Birmingham property owner engaged Engel Realty Company to manage a mixed-use development — combining residential apartments with ground-floor retail — the property was underperforming relative to its potential. Inherited from a previous management company, the asset carried deferred maintenance, unresolved operational issues, and several unrealized revenue streams.
What We Did
Our team took a comprehensive approach to stabilizing and optimizing the property from the outset.
On the revenue side, we identified and implemented several ancillary income opportunities that had been overlooked under prior management. Commercial tenants had individual water meters but were not being billed for usage — we implemented utility billing and significantly increased cost recovery. We introduced a structured parking program that, over the course of our management, grew to generate more than six times the parking revenue present when we took over. We enforced lease provisions around late fees consistently, nearly tripling that income stream. On the retail side, we successfully renewed a key anchor tenant lease, preserving a critical component of commercial income.
For the residential component, we executed a focused lease-up effort and established an onsite management presence — both of which were absent when we assumed management.
Operationally, we addressed a backlog of deferred maintenance left by the prior company while working to control operating expenses across the board.
The Result
The combined effect of increased revenue, improved cost recovery, and operational stabilization produced meaningful NOI growth — approximately 24% when comparing the first quarter of our management period to the most recent quarter. That NOI growth translated directly into a significant increase in the property’s assessed value, which allowed the owner to complete a refinance and realize substantially greater loan proceeds than would have been possible at the time ERC assumed management.