MADISON, ALA. — Doster Construction Co. has completed the construction of The Dempsey Apartments, a 290-unit multifamily community in Madison. In addition to studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, the property features 483 surface parking spaces, 25 detached garages and 5,000 square feet of retail space. Amenities at the community include a swimming pool, coworking lounge, fitness center, dog park and a clubroom. Located at 375 Lime Quarry Road, Dempsey Apartments is adjacent to the 563-acre Town Madison mixed-use community. Doster completed the construction on behalf of the developer, Novare Group.
Multifamily
OVIEDO, FLA. — LeCesse Development Corp. has sold Avila, a 269-unit apartment community located in Oviedo, about 18 miles northeast of Orlando. LeCesse completed construction on the property — which features one-, two- and three-bedroom units across three buildings — in June 2022. Humphreys & Partners Architects was the project architect, and Roger B. Kennedy Construction served as the general contractor. Florida Engineering Group was the civil engineer. Wells Fargo and Federal Capital Partners provided financing. Amenities at the community include a clubhouse, dog park, car wash, grilling stations, a putting green, fire pits and electric car charging stations. GAIA Real Estate acquired the property for an undisclosed price. Scott Ramey, Brad Downing and Paul Grant of Newmark represented the buyer in the transaction.
SOMERVILLE, MASS. — Locally based general contractor Nauset Construction has completed Union 346, a 94-unit multifamily project located outside of Boston in Somerville. Designed by ICON Architecture and developed by a partnership between John M. Corcoran & Co., Grossman Cos. and SMT Development, Union 346 rises four stories and houses studio and one-bedroom units, 18 of which are reserved as affordable housing. The property also features 2,000 square feet of retail space. Amenities include a fitness center, lounge with a kitchen and a rooftop deck. Information on starting rents was not disclosed.
HAVERSTRAW, N.Y. — Ginsburg Development has begun leasing a 58-unit multifamily project in Haverstraw, about 35 miles north of New York City, that represents Phase II of a larger development known as Admirals Cove. Units come in one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans and are housed across two four-story buildings. Amenities include a pool, fitness center, Zen garden, outdoor grilling and dining stations and a playground. Rents start at $2,530 per month for a one-bedroom apartment. Phase I of Admirals Cove opened in June and is now 90 percent leased.
YONKERS, N.Y. — New York City-based brokerage firm ERG Commercial Real Estate has negotiated the $2.9 million sale of a 16-unit apartment building in Yonkers, located north of Manhattan. The four-story building at 15 Locust Hill Ave. was originally constructed in 1927. Mary Guarino of ERG Commercial represented the buyer and seller, both of which were locally based entities that requested anonymity, in the transaction.
By Taylor Williams DALLAS — Just 18 months ago, multifamily lenders and investors in major Texas markets were underwriting record-high levels of rent growth to accompany historically low cap rates, giving capital sources little hesitation to lend at negative leverage. Following a spate of nearly a dozen interest rate hikes, the opposite is now mostly true. Negative leverage occurs when a buyer’s going-in capitalization rate is lower than the all-in interest rate on the debt attached to the property. The scenario tends to manifest when a property with an encumbered cash flow is purchased in a high- or rising-interest-rate environment. As a rule of thumb, net operating income should comfortably cover debt service, or at least clearly be moving in that direction at the time of acquisition. When times are good — meaning prices are high for sellers and money is cheap to borrow for buyers — negative leverage can present a flexible and creative way of getting deals across the finish line. Lenders and equity partners may be willing to accept negative leverage in the short run because they are confident that rents/cash flows will soon increase, or that interest rates will remain low, or both. But the ability to …
Families searching for more space, in part as remote work options retain their hold on the workplace landscape, plus strong migration into the Southeast have helped fuel a robust single-family rental market, especially in Atlanta and other Georgia markets over the last several years. More recently, young renters pairing up to share the growing burden of housing costs, as well as would-be home buyers putting off a purchase because of higher interest rates, have also gravitated toward single-family rentals, says Troy Reynolds, a multifamily advisor with NAI G2 Commercial Real Estate, who has added single-family rentals to his business focus. Given the lack of housing supply in the Southeast, these conditions are likely to persist for the foreseeable future. As a result, a growing number of investors have been piling into the assets amid a multifamily investment market saturated with buyers and a consequent leap in prices over the past few years, he adds. “We just don’t have enough housing to meet all the demand, and we continue to see a mass exodus from other states into the Southeast, and particularly into Georgia,” Reynolds states. “So, we’re seeing a lot of younger as well as newer investment groups coming …
TAMPA, FLA. — A joint venture between the CBRE Strategic Partners U.S. Value 9 investment management fund and GMH Communities has acquired Venue at North Campus, a 734-bed student housing community located in Tampa. Situated adjacent to the University of South Florida at 13702 42nd St., the property features units in studio, two-, four- and five-bedroom layouts. Amenities at the community include in-unit washers and dryers, valet garage service, two swimming pools, fitness centers, grilling stations, a study room and internet café, volleyball court and a convenience store. Venue at North Campus was fully leased at the time of sale. The seller and sales price were not disclosed.
ATLANTA — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the sale of Spoke, a 224-unit multifamily community located in Atlanta’s Eastside neighborhood. Robert Stickel, Wesley Lacefield and Alex Brown of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Waypoint Residential, in the transaction. The deal included a Fannie Mae loan assumption and tax abatement. The buyer and sales price were not disclosed.
SAN MARCOS, TEXAS — BWE has arranged undisclosed amounts of construction debt and preferred equity for Riley’s Pointe, a 360-unit multifamily project in the Central Texas city of San Marcos. Specific information about floor plans and amenities was not disclosed, but the residences will have an average size of 914 square feet. Adam Bieber and Alec Jenkins of BWE arranged the debt through an undisclosed regional bank and the equity contribution from an unnamed partner. The sponsor is South Carolina-based Woodfield Development. The first units are expected to be available for occupancy by the third quarter of next year.