TODAY’S DEALS: Mill Creek Residential Buys Three Texas Communities

The Place at Greenway

Houston & Austin—Mill Creek Residential Trust LLC has acquired three apartment communities in Texas that total 589 units in urban infill locations in Houston and Austin. The purchase is part of the company’s “buy where we build strategy” as Mill Creek has 1,109 apartment homes currently under development in Texas.

• La Tour Fontaine is a 162-unit Class A community located in an infill location in Houston’s Galleria market.
• The Place at Greenway is a 219-unit asset located in walking distance to Houston’s Greenway Plaza, one of the city’s largest employment districts with more than 4 million square feet of office space.
• Woodmoor in Austin offers 208 apartment homes in the city’s South Lamar corridor, which offers easy access to the Austin’s CBD.

“In addition to our healthy development pipeline, we look forward to expanding out presence in our chosen markets through the acquisition of exceptionally located communities that are prime for physical or operational improvements,” says Charles Brindell, chairman and chief executive officer at Mill Creek.

Centerline finances Delaware acquisition

Wilmington, Del.—Centerline Capital Group has provided a $6.9 million conventional multifamily loan to facilitate the acquisition of Haverford Place Apartments, a 132-unit garden-style community located in Wilmington, Del. The borrower was Haverford LLC, a local owner/manager run by Scott and Mellissa Riegel that has been in the business for 20 years.

“The property is well located with convenient access throughout New Castle County and to the city of Wilmington, which is experiencing revitalization and offers a variety of local employment opportunities,” says Bryan Cullen, managing director at Centerline Capital Group. “The Reigel’s are a repeat Centerline customer and we were able to process the loan for them in a short 45 days.”

The property is comprised of six, three-story brick apartment buildings with a unit mix of 78 one-bedroom and 54 two-bedroom apartments. Centerline included 3 percent of the purchase price as soft costs and $177,000 of repairs, which justified 80 percent of eligible acquisition costs. The loan term is 10 years with a rate of 3.9 percent and two-years interest-only. The property was 93 percent occupied at the time of transaction.  

Smith Equities closes on sale of two Tallahassee properties

Tallahassee, Fla.–Smith Equities Real Estate Investment Advisors announced the recent sale of two multifamily properties located in Tallahassee, Fla.

The Sweet Bay Club Apartments is a 41-unit (164 bed) student property located on Old Bainbridge Road that sold for $3,150,000 or $19,200 per bed. Sweet Bay was built in 2003 and was comprised of all four-bedroom four-bath units averaging 1596 SF per unit. The seller was Mica Creek-Sagamore MF Venture V: Osceola LLC. The buyer, Varden Capital Properties LLC, is planning to reposition the property toward a more student-friendly environment. Gerald Smith, Senior Investment Advisor for Smith Equities Real Estate Advisors brokered the deal.

The 180-unit Monterey Apartments sold for $3,750,000 or $20,833 per unit. Built in 1974, the average size was 989 square feet per unit. The seller, Monterey Associates Ltd., a Wisconsin limited partnership had owned the property since it was built. The buyer, Cabat Properties LLC, is planning a major renovation and repositioning of the property. Gerald Smith, Senior Investment Advisor for Smith Equities Real Estate Investment Advisor, brokered both deals.

“The Tallahassee multifamily market remains very strong in both occupancy and rents. The combination of a strong student population along with the government infrastructure in Tallahassee provides the demographics for a high level of investor demand for this market,” said Smith.

“Having the technology to assess the market conditions and provide timely market data to potential buyers is the key to successfully marketing and closing transactions. As a boutique brokerage specialized in multifamily investments, the brokerage technology we have developed allows us to immediately distribute detailed information about an investment opportunity to buyers that we know would be interested in a particular type of asset. In both cases, based on the sellers’ time constraints, we were able to contact suitable buyers, evaluate offers, go to contract and close within those time constraints,” says Gerald Smith, Senior Investment Advisor for Smith Equities.