Griffis Residential’s New Acquisition Benefits from Proximity to Amazon

Austin, Texas—Denver-based multifamily investment and management firm Griffis Residential has acquired Chez Moi Apartments, a Class A apartment community in Austin, Texas. The 384-unit property is situated in north central Austin, in the heart of the Texas capital’s tech corridor and near The Domain, a high-end shopping center.

The community was immediately renamed Griffis at the Domain.

The property is a garden-style community featuring one- to three-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 644 to 1,367 square feet. Its suite of high-end amenities includes a clubhouse, business center, fitness center, carports, garages and large pool with spa.

“Chez Moi’s untouched value-add opportunity and proximity to The Domain were plusses for the acquisition,” Griffis Residential’s vice president of acquisitions Jim DiRienzo told MHN. “Aside from being an exciting retail destination, The Domain has a good employment story with Amazon taking 76 thousand square feet of office space. Also, the community has excellent access to the tech corridor employers at a significant discount to new construction in the area. There were no minuses in our view. We tried to bid the asset off market and had previously bid on an adjacent asset. It was a property and location where Griffis Residential wanted to make an allocation.”

The company’s executive chairman Ian Griffis noted that the Texas capital city is one of the top innovation centers in the United States, and continues to add highly-skilled workers and companies offering new, high-paying jobs.

“Strong wage growth, combined with affordable housing, creates headroom for the rental growth that results from our renovation and service strategies,” he added.

Griffis at the Domain is located near major highways, and offers quick and convenient access to downtown, the University of Texas, and the Austin Capital Metro Light Rail. A number of major national corporate employers, including Samsung, Apple, Dell, IBM, Amazon and National Instruments, have major regional offices or headquarters nearby.

“Due to the value-add component and the ideal fit with our investment strategy, there were really no significant challenges to making the numbers work,” DiRienzo said. “An asset of Chez Moi’s vintage with no capital improvements is well suited for the Griffis Residential investment strategy.”

The addition of the 18-year-old Griffis at the Domain means Griffis Residential now owns and manages more than 7,400 apartment units in Washington, Nevada and Colorado, as well as Texas.