The multifamily team G. Craig LaFollette, J. Todd Stewart and M. Todd Marix at the Houston office of CB Richard Ellis were behind this deal. Stewart tells GlobeSt.com Houston-based Bomasada Group originally developed that complex in 1999. Marix describes the sellers as mid-size merchant builders who develop multifamily properties with the intention of selling them soon after they are completed.

Former Houston mayor Bob Lanier heads the buyer, Landar Corp. The company owns approximately 4,000 units in the Houston area, says Marix, and also participates in single family home development. The class A complex was 96% occupied at closing with lease rates at $0.90 per sf. The average apartment in the complex is 918 sf with average rents being $826 per month.

Marix, LaFollette and Stewart closed out 2001 with nearly double their volume of 2000. Twenty-three multifamily deals in 2000 brought more than $203 million from buyers. At the end of 2001, the team had 24 completed transactions that reaped $400 million. Marix says the multifamily market in 2002 looks good with lots of interest from outside investors and the market supply in check. He notes that Houston has the best costs for multifamily product in the nation making it an attractive investment market.