HOUSTON-AEW Capital Management LP has acquired the 346-unit Montierra Apartments in the Galleria submarket. Buyer and seller aren't discussing the price, but area experts calculate its location and quality brought $40 million to $80 million.

The Montierra Apartments at 2345 Sage Rd., assessed at $45 million, neighbors the 351-unit Lofts on Post Oaks, which sold for $230,000 per unit in the past year, and the 300-unit Broadstone Lofts, a $150,000 per apartment trade. The just-sold Montierra was 96% leased when it changed hands so its sale price most likely was in line with the comps.

Seller Equity Resources Inc. of Birmingham, AL acquired the complex in 2004 from its local developer, Sueba USA. "They'd bought the property upon final certificate of occupancy during Q4 2004, leased it up," David Wiley, vice president for Apartment Realty Advisors in Houston, tells GlobeSt.com, "and then sold it. Cap rates really compressed since they'd bought it. There is a fairly high demand for institutional-quality multifamily product in Houston."

Wiley, who represented buyer and seller, says the Montierra was on the market for awhile, attracting 25 offers. One contract, he says, fell out fell out of escrow due to management changes on the buyer's side. He explains AEW stepped up to the plate with an offer that wasn't the highest, but competitive with its peers. "Because of that offer and because of their track record, they got it done," he adds.

The complex, positioned on 6.9 acres, is a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging from 683 sf to 1,538 sf. The rents run from $1,000 to $3,000 per month.

Wiley says Montierra is AEW's third acquisition in Greater Houston in three months. The Boston-based investment group scooped up two multifamily properties, one of which is the Essex Apartments, in the elite River Oaks submarket. "They are buying really high-end locations," Wiley says, adding he believes AEW's buying spree in the region is done for now.