TruAmerica, Blackstone Buy 2 for $127M

By D.C. Stribling

Walden Pond

TruAmerica Multifamily, in its first joint venture with an affiliate of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc., has acquired a 635-unit multifamily portfolio of assets in the Denver and Seattle metros, paying about $126.5 million. Blackstone is the latest of 16 institutional capital partners to partner with TruAmerica in the past four-and-half years.

The portfolio includes two garden-style apartment communities: Montair in suburban Denver and Walden Pond in suburban Seattle.

Montair is a 319-unit garden style community featuring a mix of one- and two-bedroom units on a 13-acre site at 8901 Grant St. in Thornton, Colo., in Denver’s northern suburbs. The property doesn’t count as transit-oriented, but it is less than two miles from the soon-to-be completed light rail station at Original Thornton and 88th.

Walden Pond is a 316-unit golf course apartment community comprising a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units at 9990 12th Ave. West in Everett, Wash. According to the buyers, the property benefits from its location at the north end of Seattle’s High Tech Corridor, which offers high-paying tech and aerospace jobs.

Both Properties Count as Value-Add Plays

TruAmerica director of acquisitions Zach Rivas said that there has been little or no renovation since the properties were constructed in 1984 and 1991.

“At a collective occupancy of about 94 percent, the two properties represent an excellent investment that features a combination of strong current income and upside growth potential,” Rivas noted. “The value-add opportunities available at each property will enable us to take advantage of the fundamentals found in each asset’s respective submarket.”      

TruAmerica and the seller were represented by John Hallgrimson, Eli Hanacek and Frank Bosl of CBRE in the Walden Pond transaction, and by David Moran and Pamela Koster of Moran & Co. in the Montair transaction. The JV received acquisition financing through Freddie Mac’s seven-year fixed-rate program, which was arranged by Troy Tegler of CBRE.

With the acquisition of Montair and Walden Pond, TruAmerica and its partners now own and operate 14 properties totaling 2,892 units in Washington state and six properties totaling more than 2,643 units in metro Denver.