SBV Buys 156-Unit Multifamily Complex in Austin

By Keith Loria, Contributing Writer

Austin, Texas—SBV Communities, the Kansas City, Mo.-based multifamily real estate division of Spectrum Business Ventures Inc., has purchased the Summer Wind Apartments in Austin, Texas.

The 156-unit complex, located at 833 Fairfield Drive, is SBV’s ninth multifamily purchase in the state of Texas, but only the first in the Austin market. The company now controls more than 3,500 units in 12 separate markets.

“Summer Wind represents an opportunity to establish a presence in the Austin market, specifically an infill location,” Justin Shaw, SBV’s director of business development, tells MHN. “We seek lender-owned or lender-controlled, value-add opportunities we believe we can reposition through capital investment to outperform the market. Summer Wind isn’t so unique as a property as it was an opportunity to enter one of the best rental markets in the country at a cost from which we believe we will be able to build value.”

According to Shaw, the company has been trying to enter the Austin area for some time in an effort to increase its reach in the state.

“We track the top 82 markets in the country and Austin routinely ranks at or near the top in many economic metrics,” Shaw says. “It is one of the fastest growing cities and has performed well in terms of unemployment and rent growth. It is well positioned for the changing job market with an employment base that is leading innovation globally.”

The company plans to make big upgrades to the Summer Wind Apartments, starting immediately.

“We have committed to substantial capital improvements to all individual units as well as the common areas of the property,” Shaw says. “These renovations are designed to position the property to be in line with its evolving submarket, which we believe is improving and will continue to—a function of the 160 thousand+ jobs within a 5-mile radius as well as the other amenities of the area.”

Austin is widely considered to be one of the best-positioned cities for job growth, innovation and desirability, and the city is one of the top markets in the country for expected rent growth. The greater Austin area includes a five-mile radius with more than 150,000 jobs at blue chip companies such as Dell, IBM and Samsung.

“This purchase demonstrates exactly the type of value-add opportunity we seek in all of our acquisitions,” Shaw says. “The chance to buy a solidly performing property in the second-fastest growing market (in terms of rent growth) at an infill location in a solid submarket adjacent to 150 thousand jobs is of course something we’d like to replicate as many times as we can. We believe Summer Wind can outperform the market by around 150 basis points.”