When Dobbs Ackermann’s grandfather started the family business in the 1940s, he would build four-family apartments, rent them, sell them and build another next door. Over time, the company grew to include real estate development, commercial construction, real estate management and land development.
Now, Ackermann is going back to where the company started – apartments – to double the size of Ackermann Group. Dobbs Ackermann, CEO of the Norwood-based real estate company, plans to grow the firm’s apartment holdings by 500 units per year, through development and acquisitions.
“We are now trying to take a very balanced approach to growing our business,” Ackermann said.
With roughly $250 million to $300 million in assets and 2,200 apartment units, adding 500 units per year would mean growing the company’s assets by about $50 million to $70 million each year. (The company does not disclose annual revenue.)
To get to that growth rate, the company has been investing in its operations systems for the past decade. This year, it brought back Lasserre Bradley III as vice president of real estate development.
Bradley was a project manager with Ackermann Group from 2002 to 2010, but recently he was employed at Model Group, where he worked on Broadway Square, Trevarren Flats and Market Square. He rejoined Ackermann because he saw the opportunity to be part of this strategic growth. .
Ackermann Group is well on its way to hit its growth goals. It recently acquired the Fort in Indianapolis, a 226-unit apartment complex in Lawrence, Ind.; is finishing up construction on the Flats at Fishers Marketplace, a $35 million, 306-unit apartment development north of Indianapolis; and is getting ready to start on Austin Park in Miamisburg, a 226-unit luxury apartment project next to Austin Landing.
Ackermann is working to finalize the acquisition of a 300-unit apartment community in Cincinnati, planning phase 2 of University Station, and planning two large scale urban redevelopment opportunities, one in Madisonville and one in another Cincinnati community.
The sweet spot for development and acquisition is the $15 million to $50 million range, with the average project size being $30 million. With nearly 60 employees today, Ackermann Group expects to add about six to 10 people per year.
“There are two approaches to real estate. You can try to time the markets, or take a very long approach,” Ackermann said.