Starwood REIT Buys North Carolina Property for $111M

Exchange on Erwin. Image courtesy of Starwood Real Estate Income Trust

Starwood Real Estate Income Trust has acquired Exchange on Erwin, a Class A mixed-use property in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, for $111 million. The community in Durham is located at 2610 Erwin Road and features 265 multifamily units and 96,949 rentable square feet of commercial space. 

Exchange on Erwin features a one-year-old multifamily component called “The Flats,” offering studio, one- and two-bedroom floorplans. Features and finishes of residences include faux wood plank flooring, quartz countertops, side-by-side refrigerators, stainless steel Energy Star appliances and washers and dryers. Walking and biking trails top the list of common-area amenities serving residents. 

The 12-year-old commercial part of the property, known as “The Market,” offers primarily medical office space but also includes shops and restaurants. 

At the time of the sale, the multifamily units were 99 percent occupied and the commercial space was 95 percent filled, for an overall occupancy of 98 percent. A large portion of the apartments are leased to graduate students at Duke University. The medical office space is entirely leased to Duke University medical tenants.

Mixed-use transformation

Ram Realty Advisors was the seller of the property, which initially purchased it back in November 2015 on behalf of Ram Realty Partners III LP. Upon completion of the acquisition, Ram designed, permitted and developed the 265 multifamily units as part of its strategy to create a mixed-use project. Last October, a joint venture between Ram Realty Advisors and Kolter Urban sold a 290-unit luxury property in West Palm Beach, Fla. 

Exchange on Erwin is located directly across from Duke University and is near internationally-acclaimed health care facilities within a robust biotech and innovation nexus. No more than 15 minutes away is Research Triangle Park, where more than 55,000 people work across 22.5 million square feet of office space.

CBRE’s Howard Jenkins, Ben Kilgore, Kevin Kempf and Mike Burkard represented Ram in the deal.