Monarch Buys Kansas City Apartments from Equus for $21M

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Kansas City, Mo.—Madison Walnut Creek, a 350-unit apartment complex in Kansas City, has traded hands for $21 million. Denver-based Monarch Investment and Management Group bought the property from Philadelphia-based Equus Capital Partners Ltd.

At the time of the sale, the garden-style property was 95 percent leased. It offers one- and two-bedroom apartments with washer/dryer connections, vaulted ceilings and wood-burning fireplaces. Common amenities include two outdoor pools, a fitness center, tennis courts, and resident clubhouse and lounge.

Equus, formerly BPG Properties Ltd., acquired Madison Walnut Creek as part of a 17-property portfolio in 2003. It was the last remaining property in the portfolio to be sold. The transaction was made on behalf of BPG Investment Partnership VI L.P., a $384 million private equity fund, with Jeff Stingley and Gina Anderson of CBRE representing the seller.

This is the second sale Equus has made in the Kansas City area in January. The first was Madison Wood View, a 320-unit property in Wyandotte County, Kan., which sold to Philadelphia-based PRG Real Estate for $22 million.

“The near-term outlook for apartment fundamentals remains strong in most primary and secondary markets, and financing is still relatively attractive, so buyers are comfortable staying aggressive in their underwriting,” Equus vice president Greg Curci, who was responsible for overseeing the disposition, tells MHN. “But the biggest reason why we’ve had such success on our dispositions is that there remains an extraordinary amount of equity designated for multifamily, and not nearly enough quality offerings to meet that demand.”