A 997-unit apartment community in Stone Mountain has changed hands for $70.7 million, with the new owner moving in to overhaul management before the ink was even dry on the deal. East Ponce Village, a sprawling 100-acre complex about 20 miles east of Atlanta, was purchased by Palm Beach Gardens, Florida-based Home Invest from seller Adams Investor Group, according to a press release the buyer issued Tuesday.
The sale price works out to roughly $72,364 per unit and was backed by $70.3 million in Fannie Mae financing maturing in 2031, according to Traded, which also reported the deal was brokered by Berkadia. Those financial terms were not disclosed by REBusinessOnline, which first reported the acquisition but noted that neither the seller's identity nor the sale price were disclosed in the original announcement.
Home Invest's own release, distributed through PR Newswire, filled in more of the picture: the firm said Adams Investor Group actually had a higher competing offer on the table from another buyer but chose Home Invest anyway because of its track record turning around distressed properties and its certainty of closing. Adams Investor Group is a Pennsylvania-based real estate firm led by Brian Adams. This isn't Adams' first time around with the property — Berkadia reported in 2021 that Adams Investor Group bought the complex, then known as 13Ten, for $75 million, meaning it resold five years later for more than $4 million less than it paid.
Management Failures, Not the Building, Blamed for Distress
East Ponce Village sits at 1310 Wood Bend Drive and was built in 1986 and 1987 across 72 buildings, according to property records cited by RentCafe. The complex includes a clubhouse, a fitness center, two pools, racquetball and tennis courts, and a dog park, making it one of the largest garden-style developments in the area.
Despite its scale, Home Invest President Nate Armstrong said in the company's announcement that the community was never distressed because of its physical structure or location. Armstrong instead attributed the property's troubles to severe management shortcomings under prior ownership, framing the acquisition as a fix for operational failures rather than a rescue of a broken building.
The property's struggles weren't just financial. In December 2025, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation launched an independent inquiry after a DeKalb County police officer shot an armed 22-year-old man in the complex's parking lot, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. The shooting occurred during a response to an unrelated domestic disturbance call. Hoodline previously covered a fatal shooting at the complex and the GBI probe that followed.
Renovations Began Before the Deal Even Closed
In an unusual move, Home Invest said it assumed day-to-day operations of East Ponce Village prior to the sale finalizing, installing full property management and maintenance teams, restoring amenities, and beginning unit renovations ahead of the official closing. A resident waitlist reportedly began forming for the renovated units as work got underway. Home Invest is investing further in capital improvements that include both physical property upgrades and resident programming enhancements.
The company describes itself as a private real estate investment firm and diversified fund manager. Founded in 2014 by Armstrong, Home Invest says the East Ponce Village purchase is the largest transaction in its history — a notable bet on a single property in suburban Atlanta.
A Bargain Corner of DeKalb County's Rental Market
Stone Mountain remains one of DeKalb County's more affordable rental markets, with a median apartment rent of $1,062 per month as of mid-2026, according to Apartment List data cited by The Champion Newspaper. That's well below higher-cost DeKalb cities like Brookhaven, at $1,598, and Dunwoody, at $1,618, underscoring why a large value-add turnaround in Stone Mountain could pencil out for an investor betting on rent growth in a soft submarket.
Any future changes at the property will also unfold against the backdrop of DeKalb County's ongoing overhaul of its unincorporated zoning code, a two-year rewrite of density, parking, sign and landscaping standards tied to the county's 2050 Unified Plan. Hoodline has reported that the zoning rewrite affects every neighborhood in unincorporated DeKalb, including areas like Stone Mountain where large residential and adjacent commercial parcels are common.
