The Lofts at Hamilton, a 218-unit luxury apartment complex on Broadrick Drive, recently held a ribbon cutting attended by local officials and company executives.
The apartment complex had a soft opening in August 2023.
Courtney Galvan, regional manager for the Arey Group that owns and manages the apartment complex, said it has a 79% occupancy rate.
“We aren’t just creating a place to live,” she said. “We are fostering a vibrant, lively community. It was our goal at every stage of development — from design to construction to service — to exceed expectations.”
Resident Holly Werz said the company certainly did that.
“I love living here,” she said. “The staff is great, so helpful, and it so nice looking.”
Local development officials said it has been around 20 years since the last luxury apartment complex opened in Dalton.
“Dalton has needed something like this for several years, and the demand has been overwhelming,” said Nita Wooten, property manager of the Lofts at Hamilton. “We have one- to three-bedroom apartments, multiple square-footage choices. We have something for everyone. We are an amenity- heavy community.”
The Lofts at Hamilton is a gated, controlled access community. The apartments include granite kitchen countertops, stainless steel appliances, garbage disposals and valet trash service. Community amenities include a car wash station, around-the-clock fitness center, infinity pool and sundeck. The complex is pet friendly and has a dog-washing station.
Believe Greater Dalton Executive Director Allyson Coker spoke before the ribbon cutting. She noted that in 2018 Believe Greater Dalton commissioned a housing study that found that “to get us back to a healthy market we needed 80 to 100 new construction, market-rate rental units every year for six years.”
She said the COVID-19 pandemic greatly slowed down local efforts to build more housing.
The apartment complex is about a half-mile from Hamilton Medical Center on land leased from Vitruvian Health, formerly Hamilton Health Care System.
Wooten said many, but not all, of the residents work at Hamilton Medical Center or other nearby healthcare facilities..
Dalton-Whitfield County Joint Development Authority Executive Director Carl Campbell said the apartment complex will help Dalton attract and retain young professionals.
“We are so thankful to be cutting the ribbon on this project today so that Hamilton professionals and other young professionals who want to call this community home have a place to live,” he said.
“We’ve got so many people who work here and live somewhere else. They drive to Dalton every day, not because they want to but because we haven’t had the offerings. The closer you can live to your job, the better. No one wants to spend their life on the highway. It’s better for the person if they can live here, and it’s better for the community. All of these people can get involved in the community here.”