WASHINGTON, DC—Last week news broke that Clarion Partners had structured a transaction to keep the Atlanta-based Gables Residential in its portfolio. Now a privately-held REIT, Gables will be converted into a perpetual life company. Several DC assets were included in the deal.

Clarion Partners and a group of investors paid $3.2 billion for the company, according to CoStar. Clarion, which had acquired Gables in 2005 when it was operating as ING Clarion Partners, put the company on the market last year when its other investment partners wanted to cash out to take advantage of the multifamily valuations.

"Having worked closely with Gables for nearly 10 years, we've enjoyed our longstanding relationship with the company and look forward to the continued growth and success of the platform," according to a prepared statement by Stephen Furnary, chairman and CEO of Clarion Partners, when the deal was announced. "We are excited about growth prospects for multifamily residential in the markets where Gables operates."

The deal is indicative of the ongoing resilience and growth prospects of the multifamily asset class, which Furnary referenced in his statement.

Gables has an extensive portfolio, managing about 60 properties consisting of 35,000 apartment units and 400,000-square feet of retail space in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Houston, South Florida, Southern California and metro Washington, D.C.

DC's assets include Ambassador House at 1750 P St NW; Gables CityVista at 460 L St NW, Takoma Pavilions, at 7041 Blair Rd NW; and Westbrooke Place 2201 N St NW. The price breakdown has not been announced but some local observers are estimating that the DC are assets trading between $180,878 per unit for Westbrooke Place, to $331,876 per unit for Takoma Pavilions.

King & Spalding and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP acted as legal advisors to Clarion Partners. Hodes Weill & Associates acted as financial advisor to Clarion Partners in the transaction. Eastdil Secured was the financial advisor to Lion Gables Apartment Fund L.P. and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP acted as its legal advisors. GlobeSt.com has reached out to Clarion for further comment. We will update this article with new information when available.