Texas Newcomer Takes Oak Lawn Deed for $3M

Three other contracts fell out for 4121 Avondale Ave., part of an estate liquidation by the heir of Sebastian Properties in Dallas, says Hank Glasgow Jr. of Perry Guest Co., who locked in a leasing and management contract with the sale. Not only did the fourth try succeed, but it went to the only would-be buyer who wasn't planning a condo conversion, he says.

Glasgow tells GlobeSt.com that rents haven't been raised in six years in the all-bills paid property, but they will now be pushed 20 cents to a $1 per sf rate. There is no immediate plan to individually meter the units, he adds. "It's so far behind that we just want to get it up," he says. "It's by far the best deal in Oak Lawn."

Glasgow says the complex historically runs at 100% occupancy, with many tenants in place for 15 years. The gated complex has 20 one-bedroom units, ranging from 485 sf to 675 sf, and 25 two-bedroom apartments, with 800 sf to 1,200 sf and some with fireplaces and parquet floors. "For a property built in the '60s, it's been maintained like a gem," says Glasgow, who brokered the sale along with Grant Guest. Assessed at $1.6 million, the holding is positioned on 1.5 acres at the hard corner of Avondale Avenue and Throckmorton Street.

Glasgow says the buyer, who owns six multifamily properties in Sacramento and San Francisco, secured a 10-year loan with a 5.2% fixed-rate interest to acquire 4121 Avondale. "He just thinks the Texas prices look so much more attractive that he and his buddies are looking here," Glasgow confides. "He really likes Oak Lawn. He know he's really lucky."

Opal Sebastian, described by Glasgow as a "mover and shaker of Dallas," died in late 2002. She developed the Avondale Avenue tract in 1964.