WILMINGTON — Buccini/Pollin Group, the largest landlord in Wilmington, is now officially in all three counties in Delaware with a new deal focused on managing residences in Kent and Sussex County.
BPG has inked a deal with Wilmington developer Apennine Development Company and its investment partner J.A. Moore & Sons, Inc. and will manage 2,500 units in attractive beach communities in Millsboro and Lewes, as well as other rural residences in Bridgeville and Seaford.
Under the terms of the deal, ResideBPG, the residential management arm of BPG, took on Apennine Development’s 40 employees. Occupancy for the six communities ranges from 95% to fully occupied, according to ResideBPG.
BPG is well-accustomed to building and managing apartments with 6,250 units in the Mid-Atlantic Region. This deal, however, will be the first time the company will take on town homes.
“In multi-family real estate, population growth is the key to being able to scale up and operate and rent them out. As the property manager, your job just gets a lot easier when you have that growth,” BPG co-founder Rob Buccini told the Delaware Business Times. “What really attracted this opportunity to us is the quality of the properties, and you’re able to see what a rapidly growing community looks like.”
Sussex County is the fastest growing county in Delaware and one of the reasons the state ranks on one of the fastest growing on the East Coast. More than 30,000 people have moved to Sussex County since 2020 – primarily seniors looking for a short drive to the beach and low taxes. It’s projected to add another 125,000 people by 2050.
The challenge of starting in a growing community excites Buccini, as he said that BPG was looking at both Kent and Sussex Counties for years. But BPG does not build or sell single-family homes, and there’s not a booming demand for commercial office space there either.
“The availability for land that’s well-located for multi-family, well, there’s not a lot of it. So this is a great opportunity for us to get in the market,” he said. “In Wilmington, we almost had to induce the demand and now people are coming out for it. But Apennine has built it.”
The Apennine communities that ResideBPG will manage include:
- Coastal Tide Apartments in Lewes with 198 units
- Reserves at Belle Ayre in Seaford with 77 units
- Riverside Apartments in Millsboro with 144 units
- Enclave at Millville Townhomes with 40 units
- Eden Hill Farm in Dover with 340 units
- Bridgeville Town Center in Bridgeville with 342 units
Apennine Development is reportedly looking to scale up, as it has 1,600 units in the pipeline, between waterfront condominiums at The Residences at Rehoboth Bay in Lewes and apartments in Laurel, and more. The firm reports its portfolio stabilized at $520 million.
“This collaboration marks an exciting milestone for both organizations as we join forces to elevate the multi-family living experience across our portfolio,” Apennine Development Partner Joseph Calabro said in a prepared statement. “By partnering with ResideBPG, we are aligning ourselves with a team renowned for its expertise in property management, resident satisfaction, and operational excellence. Together, we aim to set a new standard for quality and service in multi-family real estate in Kent and Sussex County.”
This deal also marks the second of its kind for BPG – last year the Wilmington developer entered a deal to manage Pettinaro Companies’ residential portfolio. That brought in 3,000 apartment units in Dover, Bear, Newark, North Wilmington, Greenville and Elkton, Md. to be managed by ResideBPG.
It also brought the 58 employees from Pettinaro’s property management team into BPG’s company— which was critical when the firm considered the deal with Apennine Development.
“Had we not absorbed the management there, we would not be able to do this. It feels like we’re operating efficiently,” Buccini said.
In the future, tenants of the Apennine Development properties can expect to see an online payment portal roll out. Prospective tenants may soon be able to do a virtual tour of the units as well as complete a credit check and sign a lease online.
