Atlanta-based Cortland caters to those who choose to rent rather than own

When looking for a name for his apartment development company, Steven DeFrancis turned to one of his favorite books, The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand.

The lead character in the book is architect Howard Roark, who strives to design a perfect multifamily community — Cortlandt.

DeFrancis settled on the name Cortland, dropping the “t” to simplify the name. But he did not veer from a commitment to strive for perfection.

“I love the idea of building and developing a company where the idea of housing is more of a service,” DeFrancis said in one of two wide-ranging interviews over the past several months. “What is the story of Fountainhead? There’s an architect who built an apartment community to make it the best product on the most efficient use of the land. His goal was to build the ultimate apartment complex for the people who were going to live there.”

A basic theme of Cortland is to create apartment environments where people are inclined to stay far longer than in most rental properties.

In that spirit, Cortland hired Horst Schulze, the co-founder of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. and its CEO from January 1993 to December 2002, when the brand was ranked best in the world for 11 years in a row. At 65, he founded Capella Hotel Group, serving as CEO from 2002 to 2017. Under his leadership, Capella was ranked No. 1 in the world.

Schulze’s book, “Excellence Wins,” published in 2019, describes his philosophy towards business. Companies must have a loftier vision than just making money and fulfilling basic functions. Companies must have a purpose, and all employees must feel they are part of fulfilling the vision.

“When I sat down with Cortland, I asked them: ‘What is your vision?’” Schulze said in a recent interview. The response: “To be known as the most trusted brand in housing.”

Schulze signed on as a consultant nearly a year ago, working closely with Juan Bueno, Cortland’s president of operations.

Together they developed a small trifold pamphlet called “The Cortland Code,” which has been distributed to every employee. It states the vision of being the most trusted brand in housing, as well as the Cortland Credo, which states the company believes in a better life where hospitality is always a given, where there’s attention to detail, and where every moment is a new opportunity to go beyond expectations.

“We are not in the real estate business,” Bueno said in a quick phone conversation. “We are in the hospitality business. We are truly a hotel company where the average stay is 16 months. We want to be known as the absolute finest in our industry.”

Schulze, 86, remembered first meeting with DeFrancis and the Cortland team.

“When I came in, they had the right philosophy and the right thinking. I just added pieces to it,” Schulze said. “Knowing it and implementing it are two different things. All I did was to help structure it.”

Cortland already was operating with a different mindset. In February 2018, it hired Mike Gomes to be its chief experience officer. Gomes had been senior vice president of fan experience for AMB Sports and Entertainment (Mercedes-Benz Stadium).

Gomes now seeks to make the tenant’s experience in Cortland’s properties as good as possible. That includes having amenities – a robust fitness center, a pool, attractive landscaping, as well as regular activities to bring residents together to create community.

Cortland was founded in 2005, focusing on multifamily development in Atlanta. The economic downturn of 2008 caused the company to shift its focus from developing communities to acquiring and renovating existing multifamily communities.

In 2011, the company owned and managed 5,000 apartment homes. Today, the Atlanta-based company manages and is invested in 220 apartment complexes representing a total of nearly 80,000 units in the United States. It also has a build-to-rent management and development platform in the United Kingdom. It is currently ranked No. 8 on the National Multifamily Housing Council’s 2024 list of the 50 Largest Apartment Owners.

Cortland has about 30 properties in Atlanta with a total of about 13,000 units with properties both in the suburbs and intown areas.

The company has been named the No. 1 brand among property managers in 2020, 2021 and 2023 (and No. 2 in 2022) by Reputation.com.

For DeFrancis, the way Cortland can execute its quest for excellence is by having a “vertically integrated company” where the company is directly involved in all parts of the business as an owner and operator. 

Through Cortland Build, it controls the concept to completion part of the construction and renovation of its properties. Through Cortland Design, it has an in-house interior design and architecture firm that focuses on creating resident-centered communities.

In DeFrancis’ Buckhead office, there’s the coffee table book about renowned Atlanta architect Henri Jova, who designed the original Colony Square and several other iconic developments in the region. The coffee table also has a toy 1967 Mustang reminding him of the 1968 Steve McQueen movie “Bullitt.”

It is easy to get lost in conversation with DeFrancis, whose interests are varied and far-reaching, yet intertwined with how his company fits in with national trends.

“The country is urbanizing,” DeFrancis said. “Renting longer in people’s lives is a more acceptable relationship with housing. It’s a preferred housing option.”

In looking over metro Atlanta’s housing landscape, DeFrancis laments the “Nimbyism” to multifamily developments that exists primarily in the northern suburbs. As a result, multifamily developments have taken off in the City of Atlanta and markets that are more open to apartments and condos.

Although he doesn’t describe himself as an affordable housing company, he says almost all their apartments are affordable. The average rent is $1,741, with some units as low as $900 a month and others, mostly three-bedrooms, at $3,000.

“If it were up to me, I would live in an apartment,” DeFrancis admits. “It’s just easier.”

Currently, he lives in a Buckhead home he owns partly because he has two children who are in high school.

“The best thing for housing affordability is supply,” said DeFrancis, who can sound like Ayn Rand when he talks about regulations, zoning and other impediments to development. “The places with the strongest housing lobby — New York City, San Francisco, Chicago — have the biggest lack of affordable housing. The cities that tend to have the most affordable housing are the ones that have the lowest regulation.”

Back in 1980, DeFrancis said it cost the late John Williams of Post Properties about $12,000 a unit. Today, that number is between $150,000 and $275,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars.

On a personal note, DeFrancis is a big believer in Atlanta.

His family (three of his grandparents were Italian immigrants) moved to Atlanta from New York City in 1966, “the same year as the Atlanta Falcons,” he said. His parents wanted a better place to raise their family, and they looked at various potential cities, narrowing it down to Atlanta and St. Louis.

“Thank God they didn’t move to St. Louis,” DeFrancis said. “Atlanta has been the magnet of opportunity. When we speak to investors and others, the draw of the Sun Belt is huge.”

Part of the draw has been corporate relocations and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Today, DeFrancis cautioned that Atlanta has lost some of its youthful charm with aging infrastructure and a higher cost of living. Other cities, like Nashville, now feel like younger metro areas with lots of vibrancy and a lower cost of living.

DeFrancis became fascinated with real estate at a young age. He dabbled in it by buying and renovating properties, something that members of his family had done. In the early 1990s, when he was a student at the University of Georgia, DeFrancis became enamored with development after reading “A Man in Full” by Thomas Wolfe. 

He found a historic treasure in downtown Macon, and he and a business partner, Vernon McCarty, bought all the buildings in the block — 29 distinct buildings in 1997.

“I have a passion for historical development,” DeFrancis said. “The goal was to renovate them all and put residences on top. It had no prayer of working feasibly.”

Later, he had a stint doing affordable housing using tax-exempt bonds until he decided to start Cortland. Now the company is zeroing in on the “rent-by-choice” market.

“If I go back to 2020, 2021 and early 2022, the combined cost of owning was lower than the cost of renting,” DeFrancis said. “Fast forward to today, and that’s been completely turned upside down.”

According to Cortland’s own research, in June 2020, it cost an average of $1,405 a month to rent compared to $1,145 to own a home. But by June 2025, the average monthly rent was $1,663 compared to $2,423 to own.

“Historically people rented until they didn’t have to,” said DeFrancis, who said today more people enjoy the freedom and flexibility of renting. In keeping with that trend, the Cortland model is based upon owning and operating apartments for the long term rather than the buying and selling of property.

DeFrancis then returned to his comparison of Cortland to the fictional architect Howard Roark.

“The architect gets the commission to build the ultimate apartment complex,” DeFrancis said. “The parallel theme is that he does everything himself because he wants it to be perfect.”