Bridge Pays $90M for Tucson Communities

Equestrian. Image courtesy of Institutional Property Advisors

Bridge Investment Group has acquired a two-property multifamily portfolio totaling 560 units in Tucson, Ariz., for $90.2 million. Bascom Arizona Ventures sold the 288-unit Equestrian for $47.7 million, or $165,625 per unit, and the 272-unit Ridgeline for $42.5 million, or $156,250 per unit. 

Both 13-acre properties are located on West Linda Vista Boulevard in Northwest Tucson close to Thornydale Retail Center, Thornydale Village, Tucson Premium Outlets and Pima Community College.

Completed in 2008, Equestrian has 18 residential buildings, a swimming pool, grilling stations, assigned covered parking and detached garages. Unit sizes average 900 square feet and have nine-foot ceilings. Ridgeline has 17 residential buildings, which were completed in 2002 and 2008, and two swimming pools. The average apartment size is 821 square feet.

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Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, represented the seller, a subsidiary of Irvine, Calif.-based The Bascom Group, and procured Bridge Investment Group, a Salt Lake City-based real estate private equity firm, as the buyer. Hamid Panahi, IPA first vice president, along with Steve Gebing and Cliff David, IPA executive managing directors, handled the transaction for IPA.

Multifamily assets like Equestrian and Ridgeline built after 2000 are rarely available in North Tucson, Panahi said in a prepared statement. He noted there will be upside revenue for new ownership through the completion of an ongoing apartment interior renovation program.

Gebing pointed to the job growth and economic development occurring in the market, which has been attracting companies— including Raytheon, Caterpillar and Amazon—in the aerospace, defense, high technology, bioscience, healthcare, mining technology and logistics sectors.

The IPA team, including Panahi, Gebing and David, also helped Bascom Arizona Ventures sell another Arizona multifamily property earlier this month. IPA secured the buyer, Element Property Co., which acquired the 252-unit Port Royale apartment community in Sierra Vista, Ariz., for $30 million.

Bridge Arizona Moves

IPA, including Gebing and David, represented Bridge in the October disposition of a 659-unit community in Tempe, Ariz. The IPA team also secured the buyer, Western Wealth Capital, which acquired Onnix for $117.5 million, according to Yardi Matrix data. Bridge had owned the 30-acre asset near Phoenix since 2017, when it acquired it from Interwest Capital for $77.1 million.

Earlier this year, Bridge was an equity partner with Banyan Residential in a mixed-use Opportunity Zone development that broke ground in Scottsdale, Ariz. Scottsdale Entrada will feature 736 units along with office and retail space on a 33-acre site. Upon completion, it will be one of the largest mixed-use developments in the Phoenix area. The first apartments are slated to deliver in late 2022 while the 250,000-square-foot office component is expected to be completed in late 2021. Also in March, Bridge acquired Country Club Verandas, a 348-unit community in Mesa, Ariz., from Weidner Apartment Homes for $49.6 million. Gebing and David of IPA were also instrumental in this transaction.