The Benefits of Acquiring Near Amazon

By Jeffrey Steele, Contributing Writer

New York—Admiral Capital Group and Security Properties have acquired the 304-unit Waters Edge Apartments in Kent. Wash. The property is located within the Lakes Master Planned Community in Kent.

The acquisition was made through a joint venture involving Admiral Capital Real Estate Fund LP and Security Properties Multifamily Fund II. This is the 19^th investment by Security Properties and first by Admiral in the Puget Sound region.

Waters Edge was acquired from Holland Residential and Dick Keller. Philip Assouad and Giovanni Napoli of Kidder Mathews brokered the sale.

The transaction teams were headed by Barrett Sigmund of Security Properties and Jarett Kaplus, principal of Admiral.

The 28-year-old Waters Edge Apartments is a garden-style property. Significant improvements are planned to the exteriors and amenities of the community. They include deck replacement, landscaping and playground installation.

The acquisition was motivated by the compelling location of Waters Edge Apartments. Kent, Wash., is among the top four manufacturing and distribution centers in the United States. Amazon’s construction of a 1.3 million-square-foot fulfillment center has quickly made that company a leading area employer.

Buttressing the demand from Amazon is a highly robust industrial market driven by growing demand for e-commerce distribution centers. The area also has constrained pipeline of competitive multifamily supply. Only about 300 units are currently under construction in south King County.

“Waters Edge has a desirable location, with excellent supply-demand dynamics that will translate into strong rent growth,” said Sigmund, senior director of investments at Security Properties. “This combined with our value-add renovation strategy, should enable us to boost rents, while still providing a great value to our residents.”

The location of Waters Edge also made the decision to acquire the property a slam-dunk for Admiral. “We are very excited to make our first investment in the Seattle region, a strong and rapidly growing target market for Admiral,” said David Robinson, Admiral co-founder. “Waters Edge is a well-located residential community with great amenities. And we see immediate opportunity to improve the living experience for its residents, while creating value for our investors.”

Adds Admiral co-founder David Bassichis: “Waters Edge allows Admiral to further grow our diverse portfolio of properties in strong job-growth markets with opportunities to execute on clearly defined value-add strategies. We are thrilled to continue to build the Admiral platform and expand into new markets with SPL, a partner with a successful track record in this market.”

Sigmund reports his firm is eagerly anticipating a long-term partnership with Admiral Capital Group, which, he said, “has a successful track record of executing value-add investments, while also improving the local areas through its community initiatives.”