AUSTIN-Trammell Crow Residential has sold the 308-unit Alexan Cityview to a Birmingham, AL buyer. The six-year-old complex, listed for $27.5 million, traded at a sub-6% cap rate.

Virtu Investments' new prize is a class A complex on 16 acres at 4900 E. Oltorf St. "This buyer verbally told us they were looking hard to purchase an asset in Austin. Everything I've been bringing to market I've been showing to them," says Patton Jones, a sales director in Austin and San Antonio for Apartment Realty Advisors. "They needed to find something to fit their box. They liked this product."

Jones tells GlobeSt.com that Virtu Investments, which owns multifamily properties in Dallas, beat 11 other offers primarily due to its track record. He says the buyer's timing to enter the market is good, especially with the redevelopment now occurring in Cityview's submarket. "Southeast Austin is known for 1970s properties," he adds. "But with land prices in Austin skyrocketing to $100 per sf, and development suddenly going up, this property drove the interest."

Jones says the 95%-occupied Cityview also offers good upside. He explains that rents in the adjacent CBD run from $1.50 per sf to $1.80 per sf, but the southeastern sector's rates float from 96 cents per sf to 98 cents per sf.

"Overall, this property was in good condition, and made a good buy and hold for the buyer," adds Jones, who partnered with ARA principals Matt Rotan and Jerry Lamm to steer the sale for the Atlanta-based seller. In keeping with Alexan sales, the asset's name will have to change. Jones says the new moniker has yet to be decided.

Cityview has one-bedroom units from 679 sf to 824 sf; two-bedroom apartments from 998 sf to 1,177 sf; and a three-bedroom design with 1,386 sf. Monthly rents range from $726 to $1,357.