Metro Salt Lake City Apartments Sell for $52M

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Salt Lake City skyline

West Valley City, Utah—Sage Gate at Haynes Landing, a 16-building, 278-unit multifamily rental property in Salt Lake City’s suburb of West Valley City, has traded hands. The $52.6 million sales price equates to nearly $190,000 per unit.

Marcus & Millichap facilitated the transaction, representing the seller and procuring a private buyer. The company did not specify the identity of the seller; however, the city inked a development agreement for the property with Colony Partners LLC, a Salt Lake City-based company, in late 2012.

“The Salt Lake City metro has intense population growth and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, enabling vacancy to remain tight despite outsized levels of construction,” said Daniel Shin, vice president investments in Marcus & Millichap’s Salt Lake City office.

Indeed, the area has seen its population grow from about 186,400 in 2010 to a current estimate of more than 192,600, according to the Census Bureau. The rental market is tight, with the Utah Apartment Association reporting apartment vacancy in the city at about 3 percent.

“Apartment development in the metro is on pace to reach a record high this year, but the supply of new renters is outstripping construction with metrowide vacancy remaining well below the long-term trend,” said Shin. “The prospect for future rent growth remains positive.”