Suburban Philly Apartments Trade for $37.5M

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Delran, N.J.—Tenby Chase Apartments, a 327-unit property in Delran, N.J., has traded hands. SDK Apartments bought the asset from Pantzer Properties for $37.5 million. Currently, it’s 98 percent occupied.

The property is near U.S. 130 in suburban Philadelphia. It features one- and two-bedroom units, including townhomes, which average about 1,380 square feet each. Community amenities include an outdoor pool, playground and tennis court.

According to HFF senior managing director Jose Cruz, the seller was able to raise market rents three times in the last 12 months because of the strength of the local apartment market. Coupled with larger-than- average unit sizes, the property was quite attractive to investors, he added. Cruz, along with HFF’s Andrew Scandalios, Kevin O’Hearn, Jeffrey Julien and Michael Oliver, represented the seller in the deal.

Indeed, metro Philadelphia’s apartment market did quite well for landlords in 2012. According to Marcus & Millichap, vacancies declined marketwide 80 basis points during the year to 3.5 percent, the lowest level in nine years. Asking rents rose 2.5 percent for the year, and effective rents increased 3.2 percent.

With more than $1.5 billion in assets under management, Pantzer Properties is the sponsor of the Panco Strategic Real Estate Funds, a series of opportunistic real estate funds focused on the multifamily sector. SDK Aparments is an owner of multifamily properties and medical office buildings in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.