MAA Acquires KC Apartment Property

MAA has acquired Market Station, a mid-rise apartment property in the River Market area of Kansas City, Mo., for an unspecified price.

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Kansas City, Mo.—Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. (MAA) has acquired Market Station, a mid-rise apartment property in the River Market area of Kansas City, Mo., immediately north of downtown, for an unspecified price. The 323-unit Market Station was originally built by Houston-based Morgan Group Inc. in 2010.

Memphis-based MAA currently owns or has ownership interest in nearly 50,000 apartment units, focusing on Sunbelt markets. The REIT has been acquiring properties at a steady clip recently; in August, for example, it bought properties in both Orlando and San Antonio. The Market Station deal represents its first foray into the greater Kansas City market, which company CFO Al Campbell calls a “strong addition to our secondary market portfolio.”

Recently MAA reported that occupancy of 96.1 percent portfolio-wide as of the quarter ended June 30, reflecting strong demand for apartment properties. Rents are up as well, the REIT said, and same-property NOI grew 6.5 percent in 2Q12, compared with the same period a year earlier.

The company is anticipating strong results in the coming quarters because of strong market fundamentals, both in larger and secondary Sunbelt markets. “With minimal new permitting activity under way in the secondary market segment of the portfolio, we expect that we will see the ratio of job growth to new supply begin to favor the secondary markets of the portfolio by mid- to late 2013,” noted chairman and CEO Eric Bolton during MAA’s recent second-quarter conference call.

“Based on the forecasts we have, we expect the ratio of job growth to new supply in our secondary markets will actually improve slightly next year to 11 to one from the 10 to one relationship we have today,” Bolton continued. “Based on how we measure and assess the apartment leasing environment heading into 2013, we continue to feel good about our ability to capture solid rent growth across our portfolio over the balance of this year and through 2013.”