In the latest transaction, LaSalle Bank National Association of Rockville, MD received $19,805 per unit for the 3200 W. Pioneer Dr. property that it took back in May for $1.4 million in debt and then pumped a low six digits into a rehab, Jeff Dowdle of Marcus & Millichap's Dallas office tells GlobeSt.com. The bank, he adds, took a slight discount in exchange for a seven-day close backed by $100,000 of non-refundable earnest money. "He wanted it pretty bad," Dowdle says of buyer Nellie Dekermenjian. The plan is to put another $350,000 or more into finishing the upgrades at a complex once under threat of demolition by the City of Irving.

The deferred maintenance didn't stop the offers from rolling in for the 50%-occupied, four-building complex positioned on 2 1/2 acres near Irving Mall. Dowdle says nearly a dozen proposals were put before the seller, a private investor from Florida. "Irving's a hotspot to own," he says of the activity.

Dekermenjian contracted Legend Asset Management of Dallas to oversee the property.Built in 1974, the complex gets monthly rents ranging from $425 to $695. Units range from 484 sf to 1,186 sf.

In early November, Dekermenjian paid $1.3 million for the 104-unit Pioneer Point at 216 W. Pioneer Parkway in Arlington. Dowdle says the new owner already boosted occupancy to 89% from 50%. Some $500,000 are going into upgrades at that complex, bought out of foreclosure from another Rockville bank.