Bascom Buys Vegas Multifamily for $22M

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Las Vegas—California-based Bascom Group LLC has acquired Chapel Hill, a 222-unit garden apartment property at 9620 W. Russell Rd., Las Vegas, for $22.47 million. The property is in the Southwest submarket about a half-mile from the master-planned community of Summerlin.

Built in 2001, the community consists of 18 two-story multifamily buildings with a clubhouse and pool, all on about 14.6 acres. The unit mix is comprised of 39 percent one-bedroom, 53 percent two-bedroom and 8 percent three-bedroom units. Each unit has fully equipped kitchens, balconies or patios, 9-foot ceilings and walk-in closets.

The sale was brokered by Chris Bentley and Melissa Salas of ARA. Debt financing was provided by Comerica Bank and arranged by Brian Eisendrath and Troy Tegeler of CBRE Capital Markets.

As a multifamily market, Las Vegas has experienced a modicum of recovery since the worst of the recession, with vacancies dropping and jobs once again being created in the market. According to the most recent Colliers International report on the market, REIS predicts that the next two years will see multifamily vacancy dip to as low as 5.3 percent before new construction begins driving vacancy rates back up. Over 10,000 multifamily units will be added to the Valley’s inventory over the next four years, with most of it currently planned for the Henderson/Southeast and North Las Vegas submarkets.

During the 12 months ending in October 2013 (the latest month for which totals are available), southern Nevada added 17,400 new jobs, with most in the trade, transportation and utilities, government, leisure and hospitality and education and healthcare. The hospitality/leisure sector added 3,300 jobs during that period, and the re-openings of the SLS (former Sahara) and the Quad (former Imperial Palace) should bolster hospitality/leisure hiring this year.