The 45-unit, 22-year-old property was sold by income property entrepreneurs Cristian and Magdalena Covaciu of Phoenix in a 1031 exchange. The source says the Covacius currently are looking for an exchange property.

Paul Gross and Todd Braun of the Phoenix office of CB Richard Ellis represented the Covacius in the Tamarack sale as well as their original purchase of the apartment complex in early 2001. The source says that the buyers, Maria C. Galindo and Maria Cruz Palacio of Phoenix also were working a 1031 exchange. Albert Bertolotti of Dan Schwartz Realty in Phoenix represented the buyers.

The source confides sales such as these to local private capital market buyers have been on the rise, but primarily involve class B, C or D projects. The Tamarack is a class C-plus complex located on two acres in East Central Phoenix less than two miles south of the Camelback Corridor. The area is well established with other multifamily and single-family developments.

Tamarack Shadows currently is 94% occupied, a big factor in the sale. Vacancies in multifamily projects were up a point in 2001 from 2000 numbers. The CBRE source expects 2002 to be a catch up year with the vacancy rate difference evaporated by 2003.