Symbolic of the growth in Huntsville and its anticipated growth, a nearly 35-year-old apartment community was recently purchased for a reported $81 million.

According to a news release from The Kirkland Company, a Nashville-based brokerage firm, the Reserve at Research Park was purchased by Covenant Capital Group from B&M Management. The acquisition is the largest transaction in the area’s history, according to the brokerage firm.

Eric Hardesty and Wade Lowry brokered the sale of the 736-unit multifamily community for Kirkland. The property, formerly known as Rime Village, was built in several phases from 1987-94.

“Huntsville is receiving national attention for its rapid growth, strong economy, and recent development,” said Hardesty. “It has been Alabama’s fastest-growing city over the last 15 years and will soon be the largest city in the state.”

B&M Management of Montgomery sold the property on Explorer Boulevard off University Drive to Covenant Capital Group, a Nashville-based value-add investment manager. Its focus is on the acquisition and renovation of apartment communities in major Southeastern and mid-Atlantic markets.

B&M Management has been in Alabama for more than 25 years with a portfolio of some 8,500 units and $1 billion in market value.

This is the sixth transaction brokered by Kirkland in the Huntsville area within the last nine months, representing 1,842 units and more than $103 million.

“Employers are investing big in Huntsville,” said Lowry. “Companies like Toyota, Boeing, GE … are infusing capital into the engineering and manufacturing industries.

“The FBI is investing $1 billion at Redstone Arsenal with plans to add 4,000 jobs, and tech companies like Facebook and Google are also developing a presence there.”

Nashville-based Kirkland specializes in selling apartment communities in nine states across the Southeast.