The New York City-based buyer and the seller from Irving, TX have imposed a gag order on any pricing talk so the brokers, Apartment Realty Advisors of Dallas, won't confirm, discuss or deny any previous or the most recent sale price of the 39-bulding complex at 7927 Forest Lane. According to Dallas Central Appraisal District, the Park Central asset is assessed at $42.27 million. As previously reported by GlobeSt.com, JPI paid $90,000 per door or $44.1 million in December 2004 when it was bought from Atlanta-based Trammell Crow Residential, which had it on the market for $47 million.

In the latest sale, the trophy asset was 95% leased, with few, if any, concessions, so that and the number of bidders inevitably bolstered the take-home price in a free-and-clear run on the market with a no-minimum ask. Aside from pricing talk, though, the acquisition is believed to be BlackRock's first in at least two years in Dallas/Fort Worth. BlackRock couldn't be reached by press time to discuss the purchase.

Brian Murphy, ARA principal in Dallas, says the marketing run brought more institutions to the table than any other buyer type, which was commingled with some private investors and tenant-in-common investment groups. "It received a tremendous amount of interest. It was a 'Who's Who' of buyers," Murphy tells GlobeSt.com. "BlackRock was the best offer on their price and terms." He and ARA colleagues Jerry Lamm, Jeff Pritchard and Brian O'Boyle brokered the sale.

The Jefferson at Park Center, situated on 13.8 acres, was developed in 2000. It fronts Forest and the service road to US Hwy. 75 and neighbors Medical City of Dallas. The asset features a parking garage and 13,000 sf of retail, leased to Luna de Noche restaurant and FedEx/Kinko. The unit mix is one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans with 216 townhouses, 167 apartments in mid-rise buildings and the balance as flats. Units range from 592 sf to 1,596 sf; monthly rents go from $850 to $1,611.

"The upside is the irreplaceable infill location, institutional-grade quality and proximity to employment," Murphy stresses. "It's just a solid, solid trophy asset."