AMARILLO, TEXAS — AWF Fund I LLC has acquired Lambie Lane and Park Lane, two apartment complexes totaling 217 units in Amarillo. The market-rate properties were built in 1976 and 1982, respectively, on contiguous parcels. Dougherty Mortgage arranged $7.3 million in Fannie Mae Green Rewards acquisition financing on behalf of the fund. The loan, which was secured through a partnership with Old Capital Lending, carries a 12-year term and a 30-year amortization schedule.
ATHENS, GA. — A joint venture between Fickling & Co., Novare Group and BCDC has broken ground on Lullwater at Athens, a 252-unit apartment complex in Athens. The property will offer one- through three-bedroom floor plans. Communal amenities will include a clubhouse, swimming pool, community pavilion, car care center and a pet park. It will be located at 225 Jennings Mill Parkway, nine miles west of downtown Athens and six miles west of the University of Georgia. Lullwater at Athens is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2020.
BLACKSBURG, VA. — A joint venture between Core Spaces and Kayne Anderson Real Estate is set to break ground on Hub on Campus Blacksburg, a 1,530-bed student housing community serving students at Virginia Tech. The project will be delivered in two phases, with the first scheduled for completion in fall 2021. The second phase of development is set to open in fall 2022. The community will feature amenities such as a swimming pool, fitness center, weight room, study lounges, walking paths and a 1,110-space parking garage. TSB Capital Advisors consulted on the formation of the joint venture. TSB Realty arranged the sale of the development site to the new venture on behalf of the seller, The Reliant Group.
NASHVILLE, TENN. — Hamilton Zanze has acquired Rivertop Apartments, a 224-unit multifamily community in Nashville. The property offers one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans ranging from 878 to 1,418 square feet. Community amenities include a resident clubhouse, swimming pool, 24-hour fitness center, bocce ball court, dog park, pet spa, outdoor grills and firepits. Rivertop is located at 5800 River Road, nine miles southwest of downtown Nashville. The seller, Birmingham-based LIV Development, opened the property earlier this year. The sales price was not disclosed.
PLAINFIELD, N.J. — JMF Properties has opened Quin Sleepy Hollow, a 212-unit multifamily community in Plainfield, located approximately 25 miles west of New York City. The property at 1400 South Ave. offers one- and two-bedroom units with rents ranging from the low $1,800s to the high $2,900s. Amenities include a fitness center, theater, dog park and outdoor lounge.
LA GRANGE, ILL. — JVM Realty Corp. has acquired Uptown La Grange, a 254-unit luxury apartment community in La Grange, about 17 miles west of downtown Chicago. The purchase price and seller were not disclosed. JVM Management Inc. will manage the property, which was built in 2017. Uptown La Grange has a high walk score of 90, as it sits next to a 17-acre public park and is one block away from the LaGrange Road Metra train station. Community amenities at the property include a rooftop terrace, heated pool, bocce ball court, fitness center, yoga studio and clubroom. JVM now owns and operates five multifamily properties in the area.
CHICAGO — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sales of two multifamily properties on Chicago’s North Side for a combined $7.5 million. Kyle Stengle of Marcus & Millichap marketed the properties on behalf of the sellers. The first property, 1044 W. Newport Ave., is a two-story, nine-unit building in the Lakeview neighborhood. It sold for $4 million. Both the buyer and seller were local partnerships. The second property, 3507-3511 N. Elston Ave. in the Avondale neighborhood, is a four-story, 12-unit building. It sold for $3.5 million. Chicago-based Brennan Investments purchased the building from a California-based seller.
Chicago real estate has been the subject of considerable pessimism from local and national investors due to a variety of factors. Much of this can be blamed on our unfunded pension liability, which is expected to significantly increase real estate taxes across the area in the coming years. Many institutional multifamily investors claim that their data says to avoid Chicago. Instead, they seek multifamily properties at far lower returns and cap rates in places such as Nashville, Austin and Denver. While I believe those cities offer phenomenal investments, investors across the country are missing an amazing opportunity to invest in Chicago apartment properties. Real estate taxes Everyone seems to agree that real estate taxes will rise significantly in Chicago in the coming years. Who pays real estate taxes? Homeowners, commercial landlords and some businesses. Noticeably absent from this list are apartment renters who are generally unaffected by an increase in real estate taxes. In fact, a significant rise in residential real estate taxes should create even more demand for rental apartments in the Chicagoland area as would-be homeowners shift into the rental pool. Effect of high tax rates Do Chicagoans leave the city because of high tax rates? The data …
SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a statewide rent control bill into law that aims to protect renters against price gouging and provide eviction protections. More specifically, Assembly Bill 1482 bars landlords from raising rents more than 5 percent plus the local inflation rate in one year. The annual inflation rate varies by region, but averages about 2.5 percent across the state.
QUINCY, MASS. — Callahan Construction Managers has broken ground on a 610-unit multifamily redevelopment project in Quincy, a southern suburb of Boston. The Bozzuto Group and Atlantic Development are redeveloping the North Quincy Station bus depot and parking lot into a three-building residential property with 45,000 square feet of retail space as well as a 1,500-spot parking garage. The residential portion of the project will be delivered over two phases with the first units expected to be available for occupancy in May 2021. Units delivered in Phase II are slated to come on line in January 2022, with the entire project scheduled to be complete soon thereafter. Amenities will include two outdoor courtyards, a pool deck, club lounge, commercial kitchen and a fitness center with yoga and spin classes.