DEAL OF THE DAY: Harrison Tower Sold for $45M

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPortland, Ore.–JB Matteson Inc. in partnership with a large institutional investor recently acquired the Harrison Tower Apartments, a 24-story, 185-unit property in downtown Portland, Ore. for $45 million.Harrison Tower Apartments is one of three high-rise residential towers built in 1965. The original name of the three-building community was the Portland Center Apartments. In Sept. 2005, local developers acquired the property from Equity Residential with a plan to convert the entire property to condominiums on a per building basis in three phases. They renamed the property Harrison West, Harrison East and Harrison South. Harrison South became the Harrison Tower Apartments, a 24-story, 149,470-sq.-ft. residential tower, which JB Matteson is acquiring as a vacant property. JB Matteson is managing the lease-up and final renovation process. Upon acquisition, the sales center will be converted to a leasing center, administrative offices and a cyber café. The ground floor of the building will be converted to a fitness center overlooking the swimming pool and spa area.JB Matteson sourced the acquisition directly from a local partnership on a principal-to-principal basis. The seller was Portland Center Investors and PCCP provided the acquisition financing.“Upon lease-up, Harrison Tower Apartments will represent a core institutional asset,” says John Bellack, president, JB Matteson. “The real estate fundamentals here are very strong. Portland is adding jobs, the apartment market appears counter-cyclical to housing, the downtown location is superb and the investment is well below replacement costs.“In an uncertain capital market environment, we were especially pleased that the opportunity was well-received by lenders and our institutional partners,” he adds.Units in the Harrison Tower Apartments feature new granite countertops, new cabinets, stainless steel appliances, new operable windows, bathroom vanities and flooring. An adjacent underground parking structure provides one parking space per unit.Harrison West began accepting reservations in April 2006 and now has eight units remaining unsold. Harrison East began accepting reservations in Sept. 2006 and has 38 units remaining unsold. Each building was entirely vacated in order to perform extensive exterior and interior renovations.