HOUSTON-Atlanta, GA-based Carroll Organization has continued to boost its multifamily portfolio with its recent acquisition of the 330-unit Waterford on Westheimer and the 330-unit Villas at Westheimer. The buy from Davis Development increases Carroll's Houston portfolio to 2,476 units across seven properties.

According to M. Patrick Carroll, founder and CEO of the Carroll Organization, the transaction was off-market and came about because of a previous relationship with the seller, which also developed the multifamily properties.  "We'd bought from them in the past, and we wanted more in the Energy Corridor; we believe in that location," Carroll explains. Carroll also tells GlobeSt.com that his company worked on the transaction for about 12 months.

Carroll Organization likes properties with value-add potential, and despite the fact that Waterford on Westheimer (13099 Westheimer Rd.) and Villas at Westheimer (2727 Synott Rd.) were built in the late 2000s, Carroll says the upside is in improved management, as well as minor upgrades and enhancements of the amenity areas. Both multifamily properties are 94% occupied and will operate under Carroll Organization's ARIUM brand. The sales price was not revealed, though the Harris Central Assessment District appraises Villas at Westheimer at $33.7 million, while Waterford on Westheimer is assessed at $32.8 million.

Carroll says he's constantly on the lookout for multifamily properties in the major cities of Texas, but finding them is becoming difficult because of competition. "People like the job-growth story and the in-migration," he observes. "There's a lot of good things going on in Texas." He goes on to say that Carroll Organization is in final negotiations to put something under contract in Dallas and overall, the company has nine properties under contract in other states, and scheduled to close within the next couple of months.