More than 20 offers were placed, of which seven were for the full package, G. Craig LaFollette, senior vice president with the Houston office of CB Richard Ellis Inc. tells GlobeSt.com. He's not talking about how close the selling price was to the ask. But, he did say it was a perfect time for Walden to chip off part of its portfolio with cap rates at all-time lows.

The sold properties are the 520-unit Polo Club on Cranbrook, 274-unit Timbers of Cranbrook and 244-unit Monticello at Cranbrook, all along Ella Boulevard in North Houston, and 270-unit Woodchase Apartments along South Gessner Road in the Westchase submarket. Occupancy portfolio-wide falls in the low 90% range, says LaFollette.

LaFollette says the buyer, which also owns office and other multifamily product in town, used capital from a 1031 Exchange of European assets to acquire the Houston complexes. As it continues to shop Houston, American Realty Advisors intends to spend an additional $3,000 per unit for cosmetic upgrades to realize upside potential with rent hikes at the newly acquired properties, he adds.

The Polo Club on Cranbrook is a two-phase project at 14531 Ella Blvd. Walden was asking close to $18.8 million for the property, which Harris County assesses at $12.2 million. Units average 724 sf, with rent coming in at 73 cents per sf.

The Timbers of Cranbrook at 14000 Ella Blvd. was tagged for sale at nearly $10.6 million. Its county assessment is about $7 million. Units average 755 sf and rent is 76 cents per sf.

Walden was asking slightly more than $9.9 million for the Monticello at Cranbrook, situated at 13913 Ella Blvd. The assessed value is more than $6.2 million for a complex with an average unit measuring 834 sf and rent of 72 cents per sf.

The Woodchase Apartments at 2900 S. Gessner St., with an assessment of $8.3 million, was on the market at nearly $14.7 million. Its units average 935 sf and rent is 77 cents per sf.

In addition to LaFollette, the CBRE team included J. Todd Stewart, senior vice president and Todd Marix, first vice president. Walden, owned by Dallas-based Olympus Real Estate Corp., owns and manages 141 multifamily developments, with 32,296 units and fee manages one property with 504 units.