The Mills Apartments at 10225 Bissonnet St. were 91% occupied at sale time. B. Jeffrey Knowles of the Houston office of Dallas-based Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP arranged a five-year, fixed-rate acquisition loan through Column Financial Inc. of Boston.

Knowles tells GlobeSt.com that a Lynch Investments' executive with experience and business connections in Texas is the reason that it's ventured beyond its Northern California borders to the Lone Star State. Lynch Investments has hired the Houston office of Atlanta-based Trammell Crow Residential to manage the complex.

Knowles says Lynch plans to continue the buying spree. To date, the acquisitions have been mainly class B projects with moderate upside potential from rent increases and minor capital improvements. He said the Mills, built in 1979, will undergo some interior upgrades in a plan that will end in a rent hike.

The rent averages 69 cents per sf. The Mills has one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging in size from 653 sf to 1,332 sf.

Cliff McDaniel and Jeff Ryan, both of Houston-based Southwest Partners Residential represented the seller, SW Mills Partners LP, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Winston Capital. Ryan says the property was under contract several times by would-be buyers seeking bond financing. In May 2002, the property was marketed for more than $25 million to a select group of conventional buyers, including Lynch. Ryan says the seller owned the property for several years.