Financial markets worldwide have seen dramatic volatility in this past 12 months. The Bay Area economy and new hiring have cooled, while the San Francisco housing and condo markets have started to normalize after four feverishly overheated years. We are hearing about a big jump in apartment vacancy rates, with more apartments for rent than we’ve seen in many years just as rental rates begin to decline from recent all-time peaks. As would be expected, preliminary indicators show a transition to a cooler market when it comes to apartment building sales activity. However, as illustrated in the charts below, we haven’t seen any significant changes in the statistics. The second half of 2016 will undoubtedly provide more insight regarding the speed and scale of any market condition changes. San Francisco multifamily assets that contained more than five units experienced a plateau in cap rates year over year between 2015 and 2016. However, this same product experienced an increase in dollars per square foot, price per unit and average sale prices. The politics of new home development in San Francisco are not for the weak of heart. There are vocal disagreements between neighborhood and homeowner associations, developers, affordable housing advocates, tenant’s …
CITRUS HEIGHTS, CALIF., AND CORVALLIS, ORE. — Summit Healthcare REIT has acquired 20 percent interest in two seniors housing communities — Sun Oak Senior Living and Regent Court Senior Living— for $23 million. Summit, a non-traded REIT based in Lake Forest, Calif., acquired the interest from an undisclosed, publicly traded REIT. The two properties are leased to Compass Senior Living, an Oregon-based operator. Sun Oak Senior Living is a 78-bed assisted living and memory care community in the Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights. Regent Court is a 48-bed memory care community in Corvallis, approximately midway between Portland and Eugene. Capital One – Healthcare Financial Solutions LLC provided financing for the transaction. Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors, a brokerage firm based in Chicago, arranged the deal. Tim Cobb led the Blueprint team.
SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF. — A private investor has acquired the 80-unit Hillside Apartments in San Bernardino for $10.2 million. The community is located at 2156-2196 Kendall Drive. It is situated just one mile from Cal State San Bernardino. Warren Berzack of Berzack Investment Property Advisors and Slavic Zlatkin of Lee & Associates represented the buyer. Lee’s Ryan O’Connor represented the seller, SB Hillside Properties, in this transaction.
BALTIMORE — A partnership between funds managed by Ares Management and TruAmerica Multifamily has purchased a 1,402-unit multifamily portfolio in suburban Baltimore for $236 million. The acquisition included Dominion at Eden Brook and Dominion Kings Place in Columbia, Lakeside Mill in Owings Mills, Ellicott Grove in Ellicott City, Arborview at Riverside & Liriope in Belcamp and Dominion Constant Friendship in Abingdon. The partnership will implement a multimillion-dollar renovation and repositioning program across the portfolio. Exterior upgrades will consist of landscaping, painting, updated signage and common area updates. Approximately half of the residential units will be renovated to include new appliance packages, faux-wood hard-surface flooring, new countertops and upgrades to existing cabinets.
OXFORD, MISS. — A joint venture between Homestead Development Partners, Columbus Pacific and Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors is set to develop HELiX Oxford, a 790-bed student housing community located near the University of Mississippi in Oxford. The property will offer one-, two- and four-bedroom, fully furnished flats and townhomes. Community amenities will include a circular, beach-entry pool; a health and fitness center with cross fit space, multipurpose yoga studio and cardio and weight equipment; study labs devoted to individual, small and large group study; an interactive gaming center; media center; event space; and a summer kitchen. The project is scheduled for completion in fall 2018. The architect for the development is Charlan Brock and Associates, and Childs Dreyfus Group will be in charge of interior design. The project team includes general contractor The Construction Enterprises Inc., engineer Williams Engineering Consultants and landscape architect Dalhoff Thomas Design Studio. Asset Campus Housing has been tapped to manage the property upon completion.
MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. — CREC has brokered the $36.2 million sale of The Ellington, an apartment and condominium residential property located on County Line Road in Miami Gardens. Included in the sale were 260 apartments and 87 condominiums with the 412-unit community, which was built in 1974. Peter Mekras represented the undisclosed seller, a repeat client of CREC’s. The buyer, a private investor, was self-represented in the transaction.
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — HFF has facilitated the sale of La Rochelle, a 25-story luxury apartment building located at 255 Huguenot St. in New Rochelle. Boston-based DSF Group acquired the 412-unit property from 255 Huguenot Street Corp. for $148.5 million. The property features 43 studios, 142 one-bedroom, 185 two-bedroom and 42 three-bedroom units, including loft-style apartments and penthouse suites. Additionally, the building features 6,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, a 422-space parking garage and rights for the development of an additional 40-story residential tower. On-site amenities include an outdoor swimming pool with sundeck, clubroom with fireplace, conference room, state-of-the-art fitness center, yoga room and a landscaped courtyard with grilling area. Jose Cruz, Kevin O’Hearn, Michael Oliver, Stephen Simonelli and Andrew Scandalios of HFF represented the seller in the transaction.
BOSTON — Related Beal has topped off Parcel 1B, a residential, retail and hospitality development in downtown Boston. Designed by CBT Architects, the 484,000-square-foot property will feature 239 affordable and workforce apartment units, 10,000 square feet of street-level retail space, 220 parking spaces and a Courtyard by Marriott. Operated by Turnberry Associates, the 220-room hotel will feature 2,500 square feet of meeting space. Situated within Boston’s Bulfinch Triangle, the property is located in close proximity to public transportation.
HOUSTON — ARA Newmark has secured a $22.2 million construction loan for The Icon, a 380-bed student housing development located within walking distance of the University of Houston campus. David Schwarz and Spencer Hough of ARA Newmark secured the loan on behalf of the borrower, Tier One Group, through an undisclosed regional debt fund. The five-story property will feature a resort-style pool, business center, conference room, game room, lounge area, fitness center, fire pit and a covered outdoor bar with gas grills and a refrigerator. Tier One expects to deliver the project in time for fall 2017 classes.
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Kindred Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: KND) plans to buy the 36 skilled nursing facilities it currently operates for Ventas for $700 million. The move is the latest step in Kindred’s plan to fully exit the skilled nursing business. The company will presumably try to sell the facilities that it will now both own and operate. Kindred announced its plan to leave skilled nursing last week on its third-quarter earnings call, which revealed a quarterly loss of $671.3 million. The company will focus instead on home healthcare and post-acute care hospitals. Ventas (NYSE: VTR), one of the largest healthcare REITs in the country, sent out its own statement the next day, noting that Kindred could not sell or lease the 36 Ventas-owned facilities without Ventas’ consent. By buying those 36 facilities, Kindred is now free to sell or lease the properties. As part of the deal, Ventas has extended its lease with Kindred for all the Ventas-owned acute-care hospitals in Kindred’s operational portfolio. The leases were set to expire between 2018 and 2020, but have all been extended to 2025. Ventas itself is attempting to exit the skilled nursing business as well. The company created a separate spinoff company …