A growing Atlanta-based company is getting into the Lawrence apartment market in a big way.

A partnership that includes Place Properties LP recently paid $22.9 million for The Legends, a 3-year-old complex in southwest Lawrence that caters to university students.

Bob Clark, chief financial officer for Place Properties, said the partnership was drawn to The Legends by its high-quality construction, extensive amenities and – as much as anything – a strategic location in a market that lacks many prospects for immediate competition.

“There is some level of development moratorium in Lawrence, as a function of the water/sewer (issue),” Clark said. “That creates, at some level, a barrier to entry for new supply.”

The Legends has 200 two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments, each leased by bedroom. That leaves the complex with room for 635 residents.

The complex is leased at 68 percent capacity, a rate that will be expected to increase as Place Properties boosts the property’s marketing budget, said Susan Rinke, property manager at The Legends.

A partnership that includes Place Properties LP recently bought The Legends apartment complex in southwest Lawrence for 2.9 million. With the purchase from Callaway Properties, the complex is getting a new name: Legends Place.

“They do have the resources to spend some money on the properties,” said Rinke, one of The Legends’ eight employees, all of whom are being retained by Place Properties. “This is what they specialize in, student living. I’m excited about it.”

With the purchase from Callaway Properties, the complex soon will have a new name: Legends Place.

Current residents won’t notice many other changes, at least not until existing leases expire, said Jessica Nix, a Place Properties spokeswoman. The company intends to focus on improving customer service, so that tenants will be more likely to renew leases.

Rent-and-utility packages now range from $500 for a spot in a four-bedroom unit to $569 for a room in a two-bedroom apartment. Additional charges apply for use of a carport, garage or charter bus to and from the KU campus.

The partnership also bought Stadium Place, a 74-unit, 222-bed complex adjacent to the campus of the University of California at Berkeley, and announced plans for building a 120-unit, 480-bed complex adjacent to Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas.

The projects are being financed through a $205 million private real estate fund that includes Place Properties, Blue Vista Capital Management LLC and “two of the world’s largest institutional investors,” according to Place Properties.

Place Properties has developed more than $470 million of student-housing properties since 1996 and now manages more than 19,000 beds. Chicago-based Blue Vista has made investments in more than 6,600 student-housing beds serving nine universities since 2003.