(To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)

MESA, AZ-Outbid by more than $700,000, a Los Angeles investment group still came out the winner in the quest for a 392-unit gated community when the seller accepted its $37.6-million offer on the class A property.

"We were a distant second," Scott Derrick, senior vice president of national acquisitions for the Los Angeles-based SCI Real Estate Investments, tells GlobeSt.com, referring to the fierce competition for Mesa's Stone Canyon Apartments at 5210 E. Hampton Ave. "But, the seller chose SCI because of their past record in Phoenix for closing deals." That record includes two other recent acquisitions, the $43.5-million Casa Paloma Shopping Center in Chandler and Deer Valley Village, which the firm picked up for $70.8 million.

The investment group's latest asset, comprised of 20 two- and three-story buildings on 25.2 acres, is scheduled to close in July. Derrick says Stone Canyon was particularly attractive because condo conversions have taken many of the area's rental properties off the market. As a result, he says existing properties are lucrative investments and more so when laden with amenities like Stone Canyon's mountain views, detached garages, resort-style swimming pools and spa, putting green, sports courts and fitness center.