Eller Capital Rebranding Long-time Carrboro Apartments to West End Flats

The Crest at West End apartment community in Carrboro is being changed to the West End Flats, as Eller Capital Partners works to update the units inside and out.

The Crest at West End Apartments is the sixth property in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro market that Eller Capital has purchased. The firm, which is headquartered in Chapel Hill, reportedly paid more than $19 million for the property this past June and have been working to finalize renovations and designs for a new clubhouse.

President and CEO Daniel Eller says the substantial changes were needed to extend the life of one of the newest apartment communities built near Carrboro. He says upfitting each unit to modernize it in the apartment market presents challenges to how much renovation can truly be done.

“You can’t take a building built in the 1980s and make it compete with something brand new,” says Eller. “There’s just too much functional obsolescence. That said, we can upgrade the interiors and use many of the same finishes that will make it a community that appeals to people and is a quality, well-maintained apartment community.”

Eller says the renovation to the apartments, which coincides with the complex’s rebranding to West End Flats, will be on everything except for the structure itself. The exterior of the buildings will be updated with new sidings and paint and the interior of units will have a modern look, with wood plank floors, quartz counter tops and tile backsplashes.

Another big step in the new design is making the units more energy efficient. The replacement of windows, updating of appliances and the changing of plumbing and electrical fixtures will help residents save money, according to Eller.

“So it is going to be a lot more energy efficient and [residents] will have not just savings compared to top-of-the-market on rent, but also utilities,” he says. “Compared to where this property was, which was probably really expensive on a monthly basis from energy use, it’s probably going to be a lot more affordable now.”

Eller says his firm’s goal is to keep the apartments affordable for its residents, acknowledging the lack of affordable housing in the area makes projects like these both important and difficult.

“Affordable housing and old aren’t synonymous. One of the things we’ve seen in Chapel Hill and Carrboro is a lot of affordable housing is old, sub-standard housing that just hasn’t been well-maintained over time. That’s where this particular property was headed.”

Eller says despite rent prices being raised due to the renovations, the goal is for West End Flats to help fill the space needed for people working in southern Orange County.

“It’s not necessarily at exactly the same price point, it is a little more expensive after we make these improvements,” Eller says. “But it is still in the affordable housing bucket, it’s still fulfilling a huge need that we have in Chapel Hill for workforce housing. I would say [it] is probably the largest hole in the market, even more so than the low-income housing market, which is also important and is being addressed in other ways.”

Because none of the renovations are structural, that means no residents are displaced as the units are updated. Eller says it’s likely all 188 units in the complex will be complete in about 18 months as tenants cycle out.

Eller Capital Rebranding Long-time Carrboro Apartments to West End Flats

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