Higher and higher the pricing structure goes It is downright amazing to see the number of apartment deals lately that top the $10 million figure and more often are running into the $20-million-or-so range. This volume comes in conjunction with the recent Equity Residential/Lexford merger and Lend Lease's purchase of Boston Financial.
Not only are bigger apartment deals a major trend, they are a coast-to-coast phenomenon. Here is a smattering of the most recent deal flow:
* An 11-property apartment portfolio was sold by Consolidated Apartment Ventures LP, New Jersey, to Henderson Investors, Connecticut, for more than $200 million.
* Freddie Mac closed a $62.8 million multifamily Gold PC Swap with Berkshire Mortgage Finance of Boston. The transaction involved the exchange of four fixed-rate mortgages originated by Berkshire for Chicago-based Equity Residential Properties Trust.
* Calabasas, Calif.-based ARCS Commercial Mortgage Co. closed a $51.7 million loan for a two-property Illinois apartment portfolio purchase by Planned Realty Group.
* Charles E. Smith Residential Realty, Arlington, Va., acquired The Consulate, a 9-story luxury high-rise building in Washington, D.C., for $33 million.
* SSR Realty Advisors, on behalf of Tower Fund, an open-ended commingled account managed by SSR, acquired Ravens Crest in Manassas, Va., for $30.85 million.
* Larry Gluck of Stellar Management, New York, purchased 150 E. 85th Street in Manhattan for $28.5 million.
* SARES*REGIS Group, Irvine, Calif., acquired the Westhills in Lakewood, Colo., for $24 million.
* RREEF America LLC, a San Francisco-based pension fund adviser, purchased the Las Brisas Apartments in Phoenix for $23.35 million.
* Essex Property Trust of Palo Alto, Calif., completed the Park Hill at Issaquah, a Class-A complex in Seattle with a mortgage of $22.5 million.
* Bankers Mutual, Walnut Creek, Calif., closed a $22.1 million permanent financing under the Fannie Mae MBS/DUS program for Folsom Ranch Apartments in Folsom, Calif.
* L.J. Melody & Co. of Houston arranged a $28 million loan for The Townhouse Apartments in Stamford, Conn, an $18.6 million loan for the Oaks Apartments in Antelope, Calif., and an $11 million loan for Green Valley Country Club Apartments in Henderson, Nev.
* GMAC Commercial Mortgage of Horsham, Pa., arranged a $17 million loan for The Barcelona Apartments in Tampa, and a $19 million financing for two New Haven, Conn., apartment buildings.
* Washington, D.C.-based Love Funding closed a $15.7 million construction loan for the Village at Park Road Apartments in Plant City, Fla.
* Chicago's LaSalle National Bank provided a $15 million construction loan for the Vantage Point Apartments at Westport in St. Louis.
* Atlanta-based The Watermarke Cos., along with The Highlands Residential, is building a $14.5 million project in Decatur, Ga.