From Commercial Property News:

It’s only Wednesday and already it’s been a big week for upscale multi-family developer Post Properties of Atlanta. The REIT has sold its 250-unit Post Oglethorpe apartment community in Atlanta’s Brookhaven area for $38.5 million and has refinanced two apartment complexes held in joint ventures. In addition, two of the big three credit rating agencies recently had some news for the company.

In June, citing difficult market conditions, Post had announced that it was ending its five-month effort to be acquired, having received some inquiries but no definitive proposals. One of the options for enhancing the shareholder value that the company described at the time was asset sales.

The garden-style Post Oglethorpe community was built in 1994 and consists of units averaging about 1,150 square feet. Post anticipates reporting a gain of about $23 million on the sale, according to a prepared statement. The buyer was not disclosed. The refinance involves two five-year, fixed-rate, interest-only mortgage loans with Fannie Mae, for the Post Biltmore community in Atlanta and the Post Massachusetts Avenue community in Washington, D.C., each of which is held in an unconsolidated joint venture in which Post holds a 35 percent interest. The Post Biltmore mortgage loan has a principal amount of about $29.3 million and a rate of 5.83 percent, and the Post Massachusetts Avenue mortgage loan has a principal amount of about $50.5 million and a rate of 5.82 percent.

Post’s stock has recently been battered on Wall Street, and is only slightly above its 52-week low. Management at the Atlanta-based developer, owner, and manager of higher-end apartment homes has been under pressure after failing to find a suitor to buy the company. Additionally, the company is increasingly competing with the rental shadow market for tenants. With so many houses for sale on the market, more and more homeowners are looking at renting out their properties to wait out the current problems in the real estate market.