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WILKES-BARRE — Not only do the Ds in D&D Realty develop existing buildings into apartments, they live in them, too.
That fact is a testament to the quality of their company’s work and a commitment to the nearly $10 million Nick Dye and brothers Casey and Adam Donahue have invested in their real estate projects.
“We’re local guys. We’re here,” Casey Donahue said.
Having the owners close by is a selling point to tenants who feel comfortable knowing the developers are connected to their projects in more ways than one.
The real estate investment company has developed three properties in downtown Wilkes-Barre and has a fourth underway: their largest, the $4.5 million Riverview West in the former PNC Bank building on West Market Street.
When that project, which comprises 40 new upscale apartments, is completed by the end of the summer, D&D’s portfolio will total nearly 200 units covering 225,000 square feet. Within Wilkes-Barre, D&D has 110 units made up of apartments, offices and rentals.
The trio relies on teamwork to see their jobs through, going back to the days when they played college football.
Dye, 30, originally from Montgomery County, and Adam Donahue, 30, from Scranton’s West Side, were teammates at Ursinus College in Collegeville. Meanwhile, Casey Donahue, now 31, played at Temple University in Philadelphia.
“Casey and I head the financing, development, leasing, and property management of all of D&D Realty projects. We share many of the same responsibilities,” Dye said.
Casey Donahue also is a licensed real estate agent, and his brother is a licensed general contractor.
“Adam owns Deadline Construction, which is D&D Realty’s vertically integrated general construction company,” Dye said. In addition, he’s in charge of maintenance and repair for all D&D properties, Dye said.
Adam said the company knew there would be an opportunity to grow because of the abundance of foreclosures available after the sub-prime mortgage crisis, which lasted from 2007 to 2010.
“With that said, we knew there would be plenty of obstacles to overcome, and that the growth of the business would depend on how we handled those obstacles,” he said.
The first job they tackled was a house in Scranton purchased for $12,000 in 2010. They then looked to Wilkes-Barre, where they started with the Hampton Park East mixed-use property on the corner of East Northampton and South Washington streets. They developed the adjacent property into Hampton Park West. The Alleghany Lofts on South Main Street followed, and they’ve relied on private investors to fund the projects.
There’s a demand for D&D luxury apartments for those who want to live the “walk-to-everything” lifestyle, Dye said. Rents range from $950 to $1,750 a month.
“We’re bringing in the type of tenants that want to live downtown. The demographic is generally between 25 and 40,” he said. A lot of the tenants work downtown, and nearly a third work at the local hospitals.
“And they are the demographic that have the disposable income to support all of the recreational amenities that are growing in the downtown,” Dye said, adding that the average household income in those properties is approximately $100,000.
The first three of D&D’s properties were fully leased before they were finished. Riverview West looks to do the same.
Dye said 28 of the 40 apartments are pre-leased.
But D&D isn’t the only player in town. Across the street from Riverview West are two other developments, in the former Citizens Bank and Wyoming National Bank buildings.
Dye and the Donahues said the competition is healthy, and they welcome it. They said they benefit, and so do the city and tenants, who can choose from a variety of options.