Watt Cos. Sells Las Vegas Apartment for Record Price Tag

Watt Cos. has sold Tuscan Highlands, a 304-unit new construction apartment community in the greater Las Vegas area, for $115 million to Keller Investment Properties. The price represents one of the highest per-unit values to ever trade in the Southern Nevada market.

Watt Cos. has been operating in the Las Vegas market since the 1940s. The company purchased the 15-acre land site for Tuscan Highlands in 2015, and it began construction in 2018. The property delivered in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. Prior to this development, Watt built and sold the 202-unit South Beach for $62 million in 2018.

Watt Cos. isn’t the only apartment investor bullish on the market. Nevada has already seen a slew of impressive transactions this year. In April, Tower 16 Capital Partners sold a three-property apartment portfolio in Las Vegas for $182 million to an undisclosed buyer. The properties within the portfolio are the 540-unit, Accent on Rainbow at 6666 W. Washington Ave., the 313-unit, Accent on Decatur at 2950 S. Decatur Blvd. and the 312-unit, Accent on Sahara at 4801 E. Sahara Ave. Each of the multifamily communities feature at least two pools, a gym, a clubhouse and outdoor amenities.

In March, Northland Investment Corp. entered the Nevada market with the purchase of Lumina at Spanish Springs, a 330-unit apartment complex in the Reno-Sparks area after tracking the market for several years. The property is a new-construction garden-style community that had a healthy leasing activity through the pandemic.

Tuscan Highlands is a high-end amenitized asset. It features a clubhouse with a restaurant and bar, a saltwater pool with cabanas, fitness and wellness space, work-from-home space and temperature-controlled lockers. Tenants will also have access to an onsite concierge and wellness and fitness director. In addition, the property features a multi-million landscaping plan.

The price tag that the property achieved is reflective both of the quality of the asset as well as rising demand in smaller metros in the Sunbelt region. Research from Newmark released earlier this year found that 75.8% of multifamily investment occurred outside of major metros last year, showing a proclivity from investors for smaller markets. This trend has been growing for the last several years. Over the last five years, investment into non-major markets has increased 13.9%.