Bascom Group Affiliate Expands in Denver With $91M Buy

1000 South Broadway Apartments. Image courtesy of Bascom Ventures Northwest LLC

Bascom Northwest Ventures LLC acquired 1000 South Broadway Apartments, a 260-unit, Class A infill apartment community in Denver, from Greystar for $90.5 million, or $348,076 per unit. While the Bascom Group affiliate has been active in Denver, this is its first purchase in the Washington Park submarket.

The multifamily community was purchased with proceeds from the sale of a 15-year investment in an urban infill property in Bellevue, Wash. Terry Daly of Cushman & Wakefield arranged a $54.50 million loan with Wells Fargo Bank. Avenue 5 Residential will be the property management team.

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Brian Wirtz, managing member of Bascom Northwest, said in a prepared statement that the firm was attracted to the property because it was a rare core-plus asset located in one of the city’s fastest-growing neighborhoods. He cited the quality of the four-year-old property, the proximity to employment, transportation and entertainment among its attributes. Wirtz also noted the Wash Park neighborhood, as it’s known in Denver, has highly desirable demographics including an affluent renter base, high home prices and is walkable to retail and entertainment offerings.

The property is located near the Broadway Station light rail, which provides easy access to Denver’s largest employment centers in the Central Business District and Denver Tech Center. The Pearl District and SoBo, which have some of the city’s best restaurants and nightlife, are also nearby.

The new owners plan to upgrade the community amenities, which already include a rooftop lounge, pool and spa, game room, executive business center, bike storage and repair, package lockers and pet wash station. Improvements will include upgrades to the clubhouse, sky lounge, exterior enhancements and the addition of coworking spaces.

“Our property is located in an area with heavy young professional demographics. Many often work from home. Throughout our tours and due diligence, the business center is always booked with residents working, conferencing and meeting. Having a coworking space provides an alternative area to a resident’s living room to work,” Calvin Ruan, acquisitions director of Bascom Northwest, told Multi-Housing News.

Ruan noted 1000 South Broadway is Bascom Northwest’s first acquisition in Wash Park. Bascom Northwest is a joint venture between Wirtz and Irvine, Calif.,-based Bascom Group that specializes in West Coast urban infill multifamily communities including the San Francisco Bay Area, Denver, Seattle, Salt Lake City and Portland, Ore. Bascom Northwest seeks communities with strong locations and implements long-term value enhancements and institutional quality property management. Managing members are Wirtz and the Bascom Group, a private equity firm founded by principals Jerry Fink, David Kim and Derek Chen. Wirtz and Ruan are based in the San Francisco office.

Colorado Growth

Since 2005, Bascom and its affiliates, including Bascom Northwest, have been the most active buyers in the Colorado market, acquiring more than 37 multifamily properties totaling 11,803. In 2016, Bascom sold The Breakers Resort for a record $350 million, the second most valuable multifamily transaction in the nation that year and the largest apartment deal in Colorado’s history. Since 1996, Bascom has completed more than $15.6 billion in multifamily and commercial value-added transactions including more than 330 multifamily properties with more than 85,000 units. Bascom has made more than $1.5 billion in multifamily transactions within the last 12 months.

In August, the company closed on a $235 million refinancing of an 11-property multifamily portfolio spanning five states including one Colorado asset – 52^nd Marketplace in Arvada, Colo. The other properties—all part of Bascom Value Added Apartment Investors II LLC, a Bascom discretionary fund—were in California, Arizona, Texas and Nevada.

In June, Bascom teamed up with an affiliate of the Axton Group to acquire two adjacent apartment communities in Colorado Springs, Colo., for $41.2 million from Vukota Capital Management, according to Yardi Matrix data. The properties, Summer Grove and Tanglewood, have a total of 486 units.