TODAY’S DEALS: Koontz McCombs Sells an Austin Asset

Koontz McCombs sells an Austin asset

The Remington

Austin, Texas—Texas-based development and construction company Koontz McCombs has sold The Remington, a 344-unit gated community located along the north side of State Highway 45 in Austin. Institutional Property Advisors represented Koontz McCombs in the sale to a private investor from the Pacific Northwest who was involved in a 1031 exchange. Terms were not disclosed.

“In spite of the recent construction spike, the Austin apartment market is still tight,” says Will Balthrope, executive director at IPA. “With strengthening job creation and other demographic trends working in the buyer’s favor, rents are set to rise, giving this exceedingly stable investment superior upside potential.”

The Remington was built in 2007 and has achieved above-average occupancy each year it has been open. Amenities include clubhouse with business center, clubroom, game room with billiards table, a fitness center, internet café, a swimming pool with a cabana, Wi-Fi access and attached garages.

Archstone buys 149-unit community in L.A.

Archstone Studio 4121

Los Angeles—An Archstone-sponsored partnership has completed the acquisition of Studio 40-41, a 149-unit apartment community in Studio City. The asset, which was renamed Archstone Studio 4121, is located across the street from CBS Studio Center and within blocks of Ventura Boulevard. The sales price was $56.3 million.

“Archstone Studio 4121 is an excellent complement to the more than 50 apartment communities, representing approximately 18,000 units that we currently own and operate in South California, because of its fantastic location in the heart of the entertainment industry,” says Charles Mueller, president and chief operating officer at Archstone. “Residents living at the community are within a short walking distance of almost everything they want and need.”

Archstone 4121 is within three miles of Universal City, Warner Brothers and Walt Disney studios, which employ more than 30,000 people. Amenities include a recreation room with Wi-Fi and billiards, multiple courtyards, and a fitness center.

Chozick Realty brokers student apartments for $16.1M

Storrs, Conn.‑Rick Chozick and Tom Boyle of the Hartford office of Chozick Realty Inc. have completed the sale of five student apartment complexes surrounding the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Conn. This residential portfolio consists of 231 units with a mix of 160 one-bedroom and 199 two-bedroom apartments.

On the heels of the completion of this transaction, Chozick Realty has recently brought an additional 172 units to market in two apartment complexes at UCONN. This newly offered portfolio consists of 96 units at Orchard Acres Apartments located directly adjacent to campus and 76 units at Renwood Apartments on Route 195 just south of campus. These properties are being offered with a bid deadline of November 29, 2012.

UCONN has approximately 17,345 undergraduate students at the University’s main campus in Storrs with an additional 8,553 graduate students. While only 20 minutes’ drive time from downtown Hartford, Storrs is a supply constrained market with extremely high barriers to entry and limited off campus student housing. Last year there were a reported 15,474 applications submitted by students for the 12,600 beds available on campus. With the exception of the mixed use Storrs Center project that is bringing retail, entertainment and apartments designed predominantly for residents from the general market area, there has been no new off campus student housing constructed since the 1970s.

UCONN is the number one rated public University in New England and is among the top 20 in the nation. Over the past decade approximately $1.5 billion has been invested in the State’s public University system with a substantial portion dedicated to the Storrs campus. Over the past decade virtually every building on campus has been newly constructed or substantially renovated. Governor Dannel Malloy recently signed legislation approving the creation of a technology park on the Storrs campus with the initial construction calling for 125,000 square feet of flexible-use laboratories containing specialized equipment not readily available to industry for collaborative industry-university research. When fully completed, there may be as much as 1,000,000 square feet of high tech industrial and research space completed on north campus, bringing further housing pressure to the area, according to Rick Chozick.

Chozick Realty marketed the 231-unit student portfolio utilizing a national marketing platform. Interest in this offering was generated from across the country, demonstrating the strength of the UCONN market. Chozick Realty represented the seller, RRE VIP Mansfield LLC as well as procuring the buyer.