AREA-Wood Partners JV Bags Texas Multifamily Portfolio

New York--AREA Property Partners and Wood Partners, acting as a joint venture, have acquired a portfolio of nine multifamily properties totaling 2,589 units in Texas.

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Mansions at Woodlands

New York–AREA Property Partners and Wood Partners, acting as a joint venture, have acquired a portfolio of nine multifamily properties totaling 2,589 units in Texas. Five of the properties are in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, three are in Houston, and one is in San Antonio. All of the properties are fully leased.

“The fundamentals for multifamily are quite strong,” Lee Neibart, AREA Property Partners Global CEO, tells MHN. “Positive demographics, hesitant homebuyers and the fact that you can buy assets below replacement cost make this sector very attractive to us.”

Those same strong fundamentals are stoking the competition for properties, too. “As rents come back, so does the competition, and multifamily can be expensive,” continues Neibart. “You have to understand what you’re buying and exercise caution. We feel that select off-market multifamily transactions with solid supply-demand dynamics can be compelling.”

The portfolio includes the Mansions at Stonebridge Ranch (301 units), the Mansions by the Lake (315 units), the Mansions by the Vineyard (259 units), the Villas on the Green (252 units) and the Estates of North Richland Hills (263 units), all in Dallas-Fort Worth; the Mansions in the Forest (243 units), the Mansions at Woodland (252 units) and the Estates Woodland (384 units), in greater Houston; and the 320-unit Estates at Lookout Canyon in San Antonio.

The properties date from between 1997 and 2007 and include a full range of sizes, from studios to four-bedroom residencies, though the average unit size in the portfolio is about 1,100 square feet. Each property includes such amenities as gyms, pools, business centers, concierge service and proximity to golf courses. The units come with attached one- or two-car garages, granite countertops, stainless-steel appliances and hardwood floors, among other amenities.

Coppell, Tex.-based Western Rim Property Services, which developed the properties, was the seller in the deal. New York-based AREA Property Partners, formerly Apollo Real Estate Advisors, is an international real estate investor and fund manager on behalf of public and private pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and other investors. Wood Partners, headquartered in Marietta, Ga., is a multifamily property specialist.