A Dallas apartment owner formed a little over a year ago has added an industry veteran to oversee property management operations as the firm expands its portfolio in fast-growing states.
Michele Flores took the chief operating officer role with Brazos Residential, a firm founded in January 2022 by former Northmarq brokers.
Flores joined Brazos Residential from S2 Residential where she was president. Before S2, she held executive positions at various property management firms. In all, Flores has roughly three decades of experience in apartment management.
"Her extensive experience in evaluating and maximizing property performance, combined with her strong leadership skills, will be instrumental in driving our continued growth and success," said James Roberts, Brazos Residential's co-founder and managing partner.
Since its founding, Brazos Residential has built up a portfolio of 2,700 multifamily units, mostly in Texas and North Carolina, two states with strong population growth. The addition of new residents often equates to demand for new apartments.
From July 2021 to July 2022, North Carolina added nearly 100,000 new residents from other states. That's more in-immigration from other states than every state attracted except for Texas and Florida, according to the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management.
The firm specializes in value-add and opportunistic properties, which tend to be at least 35 years old and mainly in periphery markets.
In fact, most of the 15 properties Brazos Residential bought last year are in North Carolina.
The firm bought multiple properties in Fayetteville, North Carolina, which has the Army’s largest base, and another in Rocky Mount. The properties were off-market sales in which the owners never listed them.
But its final deal of the year was in Raleigh. It, too, was an off-market deal. That property drew Brazos Residential’s interest because of its better value compared to nearby competing 1970s and 1980s properties, the company said.