FORT WORTH-A handful of years after completing – and delivering – the 336-unit Republic Deer Creek apartment complex, partners Oden Hughes LLC of Austin and partner San Antonio-based White-Conlee Builders sold the class A complex to Pensam Capital of Miami, FL. The property was the partnership's sole Fort Worth holding.

Steve Oden, principal with Oden Hughes, tells GlobeSt.com that the timing of the sale was a factor of the partnership; the project was a merchant build. Bill Miller and Roberto Casas of HFF marketed the 93%-occuped property at 10600 Bilsky Bay Dr. in the southern part of Fort Worth and Oden says it attracted numerous bids and solid offers.

The partnership acquired the 22 acres for the property in early 2008 and began construction on Republic Deer Creek in late 2010, making the property one of the first to be built following the financial meltdown. "Construction pricing was low at the time," Oden explains. "We took advantage of being early in the cycle of those costs." These days, he adds, the cost of construction has skyrocketed.

Still the costs havne't prevented Oden from planning and building elsewhere in Texas. Last December, the company broke ground on the first phase of the 570-unit Landmark Southpark in Austin, and plans to begin construction in May on the 350-unit Landmark Grand Parkway in Houston. "We have four new starts planned, maybe five, for the coming year," Oden says, adding that some of the planned starts could roll over into 2014.