Carter Multifamily Fund Management Co. has acquired a 171-unit apartment community in Greenville, North Carolina, for $14.8 million.

The complex, Signature Place Apartments, currently offers five floor plans of Class B garden-style and townhouse units for rent and is located in Greenville’s Medical District, within walking distance of Vidant Medical Center, which is Pitt County’s largest employer, and East Carolina University’s Health Sciences campus.

Current rent rates at Signature Place — constructed in 1980 — range from $805 per month for a one bedroom floor plan to $975 per month for a 1,300-square foot, three-bedroom floor plan.

“Signature Place is a true Middle Market America apartment community that offers residents quality, affordable housing that feels less like an apartment complex and more like a neighborhood,” said Cindy Pfeifer, CEO of Carter Multifamily, in a statement.

Tampa-based Carter Multifamily expects to improve the property. Plans include a community pool, dog park and fitness center upgrades, as well as livable outdoor spaces with a communal kitchen, fire pits and seating near the pool.

Units and common areas will receive flooring, appliance and lighting upgrades. The building exterior will also be renovated.

“Carter Multifamily plans to enhance and update the on-site amenities and living spaces to provide a more desirable community for the residents while also enhancing overall property value,” says Pfeifer.

This plays to firm’s strategy of a value-add approach to multifamily properties in regions with growth potential. A 2017 census showed Pitt County’s population grew 6.5 percent to 168,148 people since 2010, though that is down from the 26 percent growth experienced between 2000 and 2010.

“To see 6.5 percent is healthy and very strong growth compared to what we are seeing nationally,” says Bob Coats, the governor’s census liaison and coordinator with the North Carolina State Data Center.

“North Carolina has seen such strong growth for the past few decades,” says Coats. “We look at 6.5 percent and may think it’s not as robust as it should be, but we’re just in an area seeing a lot of growth in general.”

This marks Carter Multifamily’s first North Carolina acquisition, and second overall, following a 168-unit purchase in Jacksonville, Florida, in June 2018.