Center City Philadelphia continues to be one of the most vibrant residential downtowns in the country. Millennials and empty-nesters are attracted to the city’s myriad live, work and play opportunities, and the total number of Greater Center City residents has risen 17 percent since 2000. Overall the market is holding up strong; the average occupancy is 95 percent and it is expected to remain at this level for the foreseeable future. Annual effective rent growth is projected to be 3 percent in 2017 and average 2.8 percent from 2018 to 2020. The MSA’s largest job sector — higher education and healthcare services — has increased by 17 percent since 2005 and now provides 37 percent of all jobs in Philadelphia. Total job growth is projected to be 1.6 percent or more than 15,000 new jobs in 2017. Since the beginning of 2015, 23 companies, including EisnerAmper, WeWork and GSI Health, have established offices in the submarket. Multifamily investors and developers have been focused on Center City for the past few years. However, interest in some suburban markets has increased significantly as evidenced by the development and sale activity in 2016. More than $1 billion of sale transactions were recorded in …
AURORA, COLO. — BMC Investments has acquired the 464-unit Landon Park Apartments in Aurora for an undisclosed sum. The community is located at 100 S. Sable Blvd. Landon Park was built in 1978. It is situated one mile from the Aurora Metro Center light rail station, which provides access to Denver Tech Center, Fitzsimons Life Science District, the Stapleton Redevelopment and Denver International Airport. Terrance Hunt, Shane Ozment, Jeff Hawks and Doug Andrews of ARA Newmark represented seller, Bridge Investment Group, in this transaction.
STAMFORD, CONN. — Dwight Capital has arranged $13.2 million in refinancing for Westwood Apartments, located at 1-20 Westwood Drive in Stamford. The borrower was 58 Progress Drive LP. The community features 95 apartment units. Josh Hoffman, Andrew Nicoll, Matt Boyd and Brandon Baksh of Dwight Capital secured the financing for the borrower. Reno & Cavanaugh served as legal counsel for the financing transaction.
BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of Maplewood Manor, a skilled nursing facility located in Ballston Spa. At the time of sale, the 277-bed facility was 95 percent occupied. The facility was constructed in 1972, with additions in 1978 and 1979. Joshua Jandris, Mark Myers and Charles Hilding of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a New York county, and procured the buyer, a private investor with an operator tenant, in the deal. J.D. Parker of Marcus & Millichap is the broker of record in New York.
SUGAR LAND, TEXAS — Capital One has secured a $27.5 million Fannie Mae adjustable-rate loan to refinance The Retreat at Riverstone, a multifamily complex in Sugar Land, roughly 20 miles southwest of Houston. The property, a 249-unit, master-planned community located at 18545 University Blvd, features a resort-style pool with cabanas, fitness center and a resident lounge with a cyber café. Clay Wright of Capital One’s Commercial Real Estate Group originated the 10-year loan, which has a 30-year amortization schedule and one year of interest-only payments.
CREST HILL, ILL. — Dougherty Mortgage LLC has arranged a $13 million Fannie Mae loan for the refinancing of Willow Run of Crest Hill, located just north of Joliet. The apartment property, built in 1972, consists of 211 units. The 10-year loan includes a 30-year amortization schedule. Dougherty’s office in Oak Brook, Ill. arranged the loan.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has arranged a $27.8 million Freddie Mac loan for Carriage Club Apartments, a 268-unit apartment community located in Mooresville, about 28 miles north of Charlotte. The property was built in 2000 and renovated in 2005. Timothy DeWispelaere of KeyBank arranged the three-year, interest-only loan, which the borrower will use to acquire and renovate Carriage Club.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Covenant Capital Group has sold Regency Place Apartments, a 180-unit, garden-style apartment community located at 6210 St. Regis Circle in west Raleigh. Towne Properties purchased the property, its first acquisition in the Southeast, for $20.8 million free and clear of existing debt. Regency Place comprises nine three-story buildings with a mix of one- and two-bedroom units averaging 848 square feet. Covenant Capital Group upgraded the property’s amenities, exteriors and unit interiors over the past two years. Justin Good, Allan Lynch, Jeff Glenn and Jason Nettles of HFF represented the seller in the transaction.
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. — Lyon Living has received $388.4 million in loans to refinance a seven-property multifamily portfolio located in California and Colorado. The 2,152-unit portfolio consists of Trabuco Highlands in Trabuco Canyon, Calif.; The Vineyards in Anaheim, Calif.; The Arbors in Lake Forest, Calif.; Sedona in Placentia, Calif.; Monarch Coast in Dana Point, Calif.; Capistrano Pointe in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.; and Autumn Chase in Highlands Ranch, Colo. The portfolio was 94 percent leased at the time of financing. Charles Halladay, Sebastian Trujillo and Lauren LaFever of HFF worked on behalf of Lyon Living to secure the financing in seven separate loans placed with Freddie Mac’s CME Program. HFF will service the securitized loans, each of which has a fixed-rate term of 10 years with a minimum five years of interest-only payments. Loan proceeds were used to refinance expiring debt on the properties. Newport Beach-based Lyon Living develops, owns and operates a portfolio of multifamily communities in California, Colorado, Georgia and Florida. — Katie Sloan
Rent an apartment or buy a home? That is the question now posed to many Millennials as they face the facts about the high barriers to homeownership that generations before them, at the same stage of life, could easily overcome. But since the Great Recession and the loose homeownership qualifications that helped spawn it, banks and other home-lending institutions have been under the tight-fisted control of government regulators who have demanded, rightly or wrongly, that prospective homeowners meet strict and often daunting qualifications to buy a house. While that’s bad news for a generation that was raised by families who owned homes and where a home was the primary financial asset for inheritance, it’s good news for multifamily investors, developers and contractors. The demand for apartments has risen to levels eclipsing demand for homeownership in one of the few times in modern history. This is especially true in Orange County where home prices have always been among the highest in the nation. In fact, demand among multifamily investors is so strong that nearly every recent offering for well-located apartment properties has garnered multiple offers, creating a perfect-storm situation for the sellers. One sale that involved an investment portfolio of four …