Madison Barracks bought for $4.8M

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Aug 12, 2005 by Dickinson, Casey J

SACKETS HARBOR - A White Plains-based, real-estate investment fund has purchased the Madison Barracks apartment complex in Sackets Harbor for $4.8 million. Woodlark Opportunity Fund, LLC purchased the 130-unit complex from owners Harborview Homes, LLC and Lakeview Homes, LLC, according to Richard Will, president of Hemisphere Holdings Corp. Syracuse-based Hemisphere served as broker for the transaction.

Long -Island-based Jobco, Inc. began developing the complex on the site of the former military installation in 1988. Jobco owned and operated the complex using several subsidiaries, including Fort Pike Associates.

Pike's Peak discoverer General Zebulon Pike is buried in the village and a fort there was named in his honor. Sackets Harbor has a long military history, serving as Army headquarters during the War of 1812. Pike was killed in an assault on Fort York at the Toronto harbor in 1813.

Woodlark doesn't plan any major changes to Madison Barracks, says Ari Rosenblum, founder and chief executive officer of Woodlark Opportunity Fund.

Founded in 2001, Woodlark invests in apartment complexes near universities in the eastern United States. The fund also owns properties in Michigan, West Virginia, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Rosenblum started the fund right after graduating from Dartmouth College. Fresh from his own experience as a tenant, Rosenblum believed there was an underserved market for quality housing near many universities.

During a visit to Syracuse last year, Rosenblum decided to visit Sackets Harbor to see if Madison Barracks might fit Woodlark's business plan. Military installations such as Fort Drum provide a steady stream of tenants much like a university, he reasoned. The natural beauty of the complex's village setting also played a role in prompting Woodlark to venture beyond university properties.

"Once I saw the property," says Rosenblum, I said 'I have to buy this'."

Unlike most universities. military installations and their personnel are more portable. Rosenblum followed the Base Closure and Realignment Commission's workings closely after lie decided to buy the complex. The Department of Defense's investment in the fort and its reliance on the 10th Mountain Division offered ample evidence that the Post Wouldn't make the closure list.

"Given the recent history of Fort Drum," says Rosenblum,. "We weren't too concerned that it would be shut down."

Fort Drum expansion is primarily responsible for a Watertown-area housing shortage that has the Army placing its staff as far away as Syracuse.

During his first year in business, Woodlark purchased 35 apartment units. The following year, it acquired 350. The company's portfolio of more than a dozen properties is worth approximately $50 million. Woodlark employs three in White Plains and a staff of 50 at its properties.

Woodlark has 25 investors who provide funding to purchase properties, says Rosenblum. The investors have a total net worth of more than $1 billion.

"These are some high net-worth individuals," he adds.

Over the next Year, Woodlark plans to acquire more than 2,000 rental units and spend up to $300 million on new acquisitions, says Rosenblum.

"We're looking to do more Upstate," he adds.