Veteran Nashville-based developer Aaron White said Thursday he and business partner Hunter Connelly have formed Evergreen Real Estate, simultaneously announcing the $5.4 million acquisition of Commons at Hickory Valley apartments in Chattanooga.

Connelly and White formed Evergreen earlier this year, but are only now announcing the company. The duo previously served as partners at Core Development, which they co-founded with Mark Deutschmann of Village Real Estate. Deutschmann will continue to operate Core and pursue residential development opportunities in Nashville. White said he will maintain a seat on Core’s board of directors and continue to “play an active role in ongoing projects” with Core.

“We’ll all continue to work together but this will allow [both companies] to focus,” White said. “Since we’re growing and we’re having increased opportunities, we decided Village would expand Core and focus on for-sale projects.”

Deutschmann — whose Core Development is developing Gale Park (in the Melrose area) and The Chesterfield (near Hillsboro Village), while being active in various projects in Germantown, including Werthan Lofts — said Core "will continue in various investments" with Connelly and White.

"We've enjoyed and valued this partnership for many years," he added.

Evergreen currently is developing, with Nashville-based real estate investor Donald Seitz, Village Row (pictured; read details here), which will be located at the southwest intersection of Wedgewood Avenue and Magnolia Boulevard logistically between the northeast fringe of Hillsboro Village and the southwest corner of Music Row (thus the name).

White said Commons at Hickory Valley — which is located near the Hamilton Place growth corridor and the region’s new Volkswagen and Amazon.com employment centers — will undergo significant interior and exterior renovations. Evergreen expects to spend about $3 million on the updates, he added.

Evergreen owns the 238-unit Meridian at Hamilton Place and the 228-unit NorthShore Village property, located near Chattanooga’s central business district and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus. The company portfolio manages manages more than 1,200 units in the Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga markets.