DENVER — UDR (NYSE:UDR), a Denver-based multifamily REIT, recently acquired three primary-market multifamily properties totaling 1,101 units for $687 million, and simultaneously announced its $375 million planned investment in the development of four additional multifamily communities with an aggregate of 1,306 units.
The acquisitions include Rivergate and 21 Chelsea in New York City, as well as View 14 in Washington D.C. Rivergate, a 35-story, 706-unit property located in Murray Hill, sold for $443 million, and UDR plans $40 to $60 million worth of investment into the property over the next three years to achieve rents 35 percent higher than the current monthly income per occupied home of $3,262.
The second purchased property, 21 Chelsea, is a 14-story, 210-unit building located on 21st Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues. Purchased for $138 million, UDR will invest $6 to $8 million in redevelopment to improve the current $3,226 monthly income per household by 20 percent.
Finally, View 14 in Washington (pictured on home page) is a nine-story, 185-home community situated in the U Street Corridor section of Northwest Washington. UDR acquired the property for $106 million.
“The acquisition of these three communities continues our portfolio transformation and strategy of owning apartment homes in markets characterized by above average job growth, low home affordability and limited new supply — three of the key drivers to strong rental growth,” said Tom Toomey, president and CEO of UDR.
On the development side, UDR is has plans to undertake four multifamily communities all expected to open in 2013.
Village at Bella Terra will be a $150 million, 467-home community located in Huntington Beach, Calif., directly adjacent to the 770,000-square-foot Bella Terra lifestyle center. Village at Bella Terra will deliver the first market-rate rental product in the submarket in more 20 years.
Second, Los Alisos, an $87 million, 320-home community located in Mission Viejo, Calif., will be located directly adjacent to the site is Mission Foothill Marketplace, an 110,000-square-foot retail center.
UDR also entered into a $76 million, pre-sale joint venture to develop a 263-home community at 13th & Market in the East Village of San Diego, which will be located directly across the street from the planned 4-acre East Village Green public park, within walking distance to PETCO Park and only three blocks from the UDR/MetLife Strata community, which features 163 homes.
Finally, UDR entered into another pre-sale joint venture, this one for $62 million, to develop a 256-home community to be located immediately adjacent to The Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md. The community is expected to be the only privately owned, market-rate community located directly adjacent to the University of Maryland campus.
— Dan Marcec