New York City-based Insignia co-invested in the property, whose name will be changed to Colonial Village at Plainville, with DSF Advisors, a Boston-based real estate developer and investor. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed but according to Jeffrey Goldberg, executive director of Insignia's co-investment group, the property was acquired "well below replacement cost." He notes that the acquisition was in line with the company's strategy, which is to work with a "high quality local developer to improve operations and revenue collections from the current level, and after making a number of capital improvements, sell the complex after two- to three-year hold to an institutional investor."

The complex, one of the largest in the area, is located about 35 minutes outside of Boston and consists of 10 three-story buildings, which are set on 23 acres. The apartments are all rental units and according to Jeff Tabor, senior director of the acquisitions/investment group at Insignia, the complex is 90% leased. Among its features are a clubhouse with a fitness room, residents' party room, office space, a pool and laundry facilities. Rental rates range from $725 a month for an efficiency to $1,025 a month for a two bedroom.

Arthur Solomon, head of DSF Advisors says that his company believes that "investing in Town and Country accords with our strategy to invest equity with institutional partners in properties that have the potential of offering above average returns. Town and Country is an under performing asset, under-rented, under-managed, and under-marketed. We are confident that we will succeed at substantially enhancing the value of this asset during the next 24 months."

Tabor tells GlobeSt.com that while Insignia has invested in a number of commercial properties in the Greater Boston area, this is its first multifamily investment here. "We are looking for good deals," he says. "There is a limited amount of supply in the Greater Boston area and that is one of the reasons we found this deal attractive." Tabor notes that by area standards, the property is considered very large and it is not economically feasible to start building this kind of complex. Tabor points out that because of this, multifamily supply is even more restricted in the suburbs, where there is less opportunity to renovate buildings than in the city.

The property will be managed by Archstone Management Services, Inc., the third-party property management arm of Archstone-Smith. Tabor says that his company plans on making improvements to the property but he says that it is still unclear how much they plan to invest in the effort.