JLL Brokers $58.7M Sale of Exchange at Westgate Multifamily in Leland, North Carolina for Hathaway Companies

JLL has closed the $58.7 million sale of Exchange at Westgate, a 312-unit luxury apartment community in Leland, North Carolina, the firm announced July 16, 2026. JLL represented the seller, Hathaway Companies, and also sourced acquisition financing on behalf of the buyer, Argyle Real Estate Capital.

The transaction works out to approximately $188,000 per unit for the 2023-vintage community located at 5214 Browning Lane within the Wilmington metropolitan statistical area.

Property Overview and Location

Completed in 2023, Exchange at Westgate offers studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with an average unit size of 931 square feet. Community amenities include a saltwater pool, fitness center, cyber café, clubhouse and outdoor grilling areas. Unit interiors feature granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, wood-style flooring and full ceramic tile backsplashes.

The property sits in Brunswick County, roughly 12 minutes from downtown Wilmington, providing residents access to the coastal economy, beaches, entertainment venues and major employment centers. Average household incomes within a three-mile radius exceed $115,000, and average homeownership costs in the market run over $2,400 per month — dynamics the firm cited as underpinning demand for quality rental housing.

The surrounding area includes a 3.2 million-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center and a $650 million Epsilon graphite manufacturing facility, representing more than $680 million in combined capital investment and over 2,000 jobs, according to JLL.

A High-Growth Submarket

Brunswick County ranked as the 14th fastest-growing county in the United States between 2020 and 2024, posting 22.3 percent population growth during that period. The broader Wilmington MSA has added more than 224,000 residents since 2010, representing 46.8 percent population growth. United Van Lines named Wilmington the top destination for movers in the U.S. in 2024, with 83 percent inbound migration.

North Carolina's 2.25 percent corporate income tax rate — which the firm described as the lowest in the United States — along with the Port of Wilmington and Wilmington International Airport, which serves over 1.5 million passengers annually, round out the regional economic profile cited in JLL's announcement.

"Exchange at Westgate represented a rare opportunity to acquire a newly constructed, institutional-quality asset in one of the Southeast's most dynamic growth markets," said Managing Director John Mikels of JLL Capital Markets. "The property's location in Leland positions investors to capitalize on the Wilmington metro area's exceptional population growth, strong demographics and expanding employment base driven by significant corporate investments in the region."

Deal Team and Capital Structure

JLL Capital Markets' Investment and Sales Advisory team representing Hathaway Companies was led by Managing Directors John Mikels and John Gavigan, Director Chase Monroe, Senior Associate William Martin and Analyst McCullough Campbell. Senior Managing Director Brian Gaswirth and Director Brad Woolard arranged the acquisition financing for Argyle Real Estate Capital. Specific loan terms and the lending source were not disclosed.

JLL Capital Markets operates with more than 3,000 specialists in nearly 50 countries. The firm has been active across North Carolina in recent periods, including the sale of the 286-unit Pier 33 waterfront apartment complex in downtown Wilmington and the $91 million acquisition and $60.3 million financing of Abberly NoDa Vista, a 261-unit multifamily property in Charlotte.

About the Buyer and Seller

Argyle Real Estate Capital is a vertically integrated real estate investment firm based in Tampa, Florida, focused on the acquisition and repositioning of core-plus and value-add multifamily assets in primary and secondary markets across the United States. The firm's founding principals have more than 30 years of combined experience in real estate private equity, real estate law and investment banking, and have collectively acquired $3.5 billion in assets throughout their careers.

Hathaway Companies is a full-service real estate enterprise that has operated in the Southeast for more than 30 years. The company has created over $1 billion in assets through its Hathaway Development, Hathaway Construction Services, Lynx Capital and Evolve Property Management subsidiaries.