ALEXANDRIA, VA-Private equity companies the Carlyle Group and AION Partners have acquired a 570-unit mid-rise apartment building in Alexandria for $93 million in an off-market transaction. The property’s in-place cap rate is just shy of 6%. The property, formerly called Belle Haven Towers and since branded Cityside Huntington Metro by its new owners, is 96% occupied.

The new owners will begin a $9.5 million renovation on the grounds, common areas and apartment units. The Bainbridge Cos., has been selected as the property manager. Developed in two phases in 1964 and 1974, the original family that built the complex have owned it ever since, through various limited partnerships. Funding for the deal is being sourced from AION Partners and Carlyle Realty Partners VI, which makes opportunistic real estate investments in North America.

The two firms are on the lookout for additional multifamily investments in the area for this fund, but optimally priced deals are few and far between there, AION Partners principal Michael Betancourt tells GlobeSt.com. They were able to grab this building when a sales contract that the developer seller had inked with another firm encountered difficulties. “We were able to secure the transaction through a small window of opportunity,” he says.