Audubon Communities, an Atlanta-based company that specializes in the acquisition and management of multifamily properties throughout the Southeast, has begun leasing apartments at its Bella of Baton Rouge apartment community, which was devastated in record floods last year.

The apartment complex is the first to reopen in the Sherwood Forest submarket after many residents were displaced by a storm last August that dumped two feet of rain on Baton Rouge and other communities in Louisiana. Bella of Baton Rouge opened its first building in late June, and will steadily re-open others in the months ahead, with the expectation of having all 28 buildings open by the end of the year.

“We’re happy to welcome residents back into the neighborhood after 10 months of hard work to restore Bella of Baton Rouge and make it better than ever,” said Christopher Edwards, Audubon’s Managing Director. “It’s especially important given there has been a serious shortage of housing in the aftermath of the flood.”

Bella of Baton Rouge was already a story of successful reclamation before last year’s storm hit. Audubon acquired the property out of foreclosure in March of 2012. It was in poor condition and less than 10 percent of the 220 flats and townhome units were occupied.

Audubon invested $7 million to extensively renovate Bella of Baton Rouge inside and out, work that was completed in 2015. Occupancy stood at 95 percent when the record rains fell last year, and immediately plummeted to zero.

“As a result of flood damage to the first-floor units, the entire property was deemed uninhabitable and all residents were forced to leave,” Edwards said. “After a lengthy process with the insurance adjuster, we received our insurance proceeds from FEMA and began renovating the property in February of this year.”

The floods that struck were particularly bad in the Baton Rouge area in that both the Amite and Comite rivers flooded, damaging more than 150,000 homes and causing more than $10 billion in property damage.

For more information about availability, visit http://mybellaofbatonrouge.com/contact/ or call (225) 960-6729.

About Audubon Communities

Audubon Communities is an Atlanta-based firm that specializes in the acquisition and management of multifamily properties throughout the Southeastern region of the United States. With a senior staff that has collectively acquired, managed and renovated more than 30,000 apartment units, Audubon has a wide range of experience and expertise in repositioning multifamily assets. For more information, please visit http://www.acmapts.com