A Nashville investment group created in 2010 to buy and manage real estate in the Southeast bought apartment complexes in Chattanooga and Red Bank this week and is looking to buy even more rental properties in what investors see as a strong apartment market in the Chattanooga area.

Elmington Capital Group LLC paid $28 million to acquire the 280-unit Mountain Brook Apartments on Mountain Creek Road and the 226-unit Ridgemont Apartments on Mason Drive in Red Bank. Earlier this year, the same investment group bought the 108-unit Hixson Court on Hixson Pike, valued at $6.5 million.

“We’re really bullish on the Chattanooga market and would like to acquire even more properties,” said Ben Brewer, senior vice president of acquisitions for Elmington Capital. “We’re seeing job growth in a diversified economy in Chattanooga and these properties are close to the North Shore where so much is happening in Chattanooga.”

The new owners plan to renovate and upgrade both of their new properties.

“We’re going to begin immediately on exterior renovations to provide a fresh new look for the exterior of the buildings, parking lots and landscaping,” Brewer said. “Within the units over time, you’ll see new fixtures, new flooring and new improvements to cabinets and countertops. It will be a complete renovation of the properties.”

Brewer said Elmington is still working on its plans and budget for the Chattanooga properties, but he said the improvements “will be several million dollars.” As improvements are made, rental rates should edge higher.

Brewer said the apartments being acquired are more than 98 percent occupied.

Mountain Brook, built in 1986, and Ridgemont Apartments, erected in 1984, were previously owned by a real estate group controlled by Freeman Webb, another Nashville investment group.

In its 11-state region in the Southeast, Ellington currently owns about 3,500 apartment units and manages another 8,000 rental units for other owners. The firm also owns or manages retail, office and industrial properties.

The three apartment purchases in the Chattanooga market this year by Elmington are among more than $100 million of real estate acquisitions made over the past two years by investment groups buying major apartment complexes in Hamilton County.

As the economy has improved and home sales have remained tepid by historical standards, demand and rates for apartments in Chattanooga have increased.

A study of 200 US. cities by the online finance advisor NerdWallet ranked Chattanooga No. 7 in the rate of increase in rental rates between 2007 and 2012. Apartment rates during the 5-year period grew 26 percent in Chattanooga from $649 a month in 2008 to $788 last year.