LAUREL, MD-A renovated 218-unit apartment complex here has traded for $27.9 million, or $128,178 per unit. Westgate Apartment Investors LLC was the seller. The buyer was Westgate DNB Assoc., a subsidiary of Geller Assoc., in Roseland, NJ. The CBRE team of Mike Muldowney, Bill Roohan, Andy Boyer, Michael Rudolph, Brian Margerum, and Martha Hastings represented the seller.

The property was built in 1964 and then recently updated by the seller with new windows and kitchen finishes. At the time of its trade, Westgate of Laurel was approximately 93% occupied. The apartment complex is workforce housing, presenting a different choice to residents in the area that are being outpriced by the newer stock of housing.

"It is quality housing at an affordable price," Muldowney tells GlobeSt.com. The influx of higher-priced apartment complexes in the area is understandable—generally speaking, the region around Fort Meade, the National Security Agency, Defense Information Systems Agency, and US Cyber Command has been attracting a wide range of well-paying, high-tech jobs.

Muldowney says there is little the new owner has to do to improve the property or to make upgrades. Its strategy for the near term, Muldowney adds, "is to just sit there and take advantage of the $300, $400 spread in pricing between it and other [newer] communities in the area." The new owner has a diverse portfolio of apartments in the area, Muldowney adds, and this new addition "is an excellent complement. It also fits into their long-term hold strategy for their assets."

The CBRE team has been closing a number of multifamily deals in this part of Maryland. To name just one, they brokered Hampshire Properties' acquisition of the Laurel Square Apartments for $102 million.