SALT LAKE, UT—Marking its entry into the Utah market, Gelt, Inc., a Los Angeles-based real estate investment and asset management firm, has acquired Murray Ridge Apartments, a 247-unit apartment community in Salt Lake City, for $25.5 million.

Located at 4120 South 500 East, Murray Ridge Apartments includes 22 buildings and is situated on 10.36 acres. The property was developed in two phases with 103 units built in 1973 and 144 units built in 1977. Its on-site amenities include a fitness center, clubhouse, BBQ areas, business center and swimming pool.

“Salt Lake City is a very hot market that we have aggressively pursued over the past two years,” said Keith Wasserman, partner with Gelt, Inc. “We are pleased to acquire this prime property at significantly below replacement cost and at an excellent basis as very little product trades hands and many transactions occur off-market.”

The previous owners invested $3 million from 2007-2014 into Murray Ridge including asphalt resurfacing, interior upgrades to some units, renovations to the leasing office and clubhouse areas, and pool upgrades. Gelt plans to make additional capital improvements to some of the units, as well as upgrades to common areas and landscaping. 

“This sizeable garden-style property has great bones, a nice unit mix of large, one- and two bedroom floorplans, and is also well-located in a desirable infill Salt Lake City location,” noted Wasserman. “We see a significant amount of upside in rent through a renovation of the property and improvements to management. Our company takes pride in transforming the properties we acquire into vibrant communities, while at the same time, realizing significant returns for our investors in the process.”

Murray Ridge residents can easily access downtown, employment centers, retail, regional malls, and entertainment. The community provides an ideal location with easy access to I-15, and is within five miles of all the major interstates in Salt Lake City. It is also just one-mile from the Meadowbrook UTA Trax Station and the Murray North Trax Station for convenient public transit.

Wasserman observed that the Salt Lake market offers strong real estate investment fundamentals including one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, highly educated workforce, surging population growth and overall quality of life.  There has also been little new apartment development, further benefitting Gelt's strategic investment. 

The firm is looking to acquire at least 1,000 units in Utah to grow a sizable mass in this dynamic market. Over the past 24 months alone, Gelt has acquired six properties consisting of 1,602 units valued in excess of $130 million in the Western states, and has a goal of acquiring approximately $250 million dollars of real estate assets within the next 24 to 36 months, which would double its current portfolio.  The firm's investment appetite is focused on apartment and mobile home communities ranging from $4 million to $75 million with a geographic focus on key markets within California, Utah, Nevada and Arizona.

Gelt was represented by Sage Sawyer and Jed Millburn of Equimark in the transaction. The same brokerage team represented the seller.