First-Time Texas Buyer Steps Up for 360-Unit Asset

Tiffany Place Apartments at 4000 Weeks Park Lane in Wichita Falls went in an all-cash transaction for the seller, TVO Realty of Chicago, which hit the five-year mark on the hold, Tom Burns, senior investment adviser in Dallas for Phoenix-based Hendricks & Partners, tells GlobeSt.com. The complex did a five-month run on the market at $12.3 million. The end result is "we got pretty close to that," Burns says. "For that year model of property, we got a very good number." The pro forma cap rate nudges 8.5%.

The class B complex, built in 1979 and 1980, sits on 19.7 acres in the city's Country Club addition. It is across the street from a municipal golf course and jogging trails, a block from the university and three blocks from Sikes Mall. Burns says the new owner, 4000 Weeks Park Lane LP, intends to change the name and put "a significant amount" into upgrades of a development that has a high tenancy of students and US Air Force pilots due to its proximity to Sheppard Air Force Base. The renovation plan includes a weight room and student study center, taking one of two leasing offices to get the space.

The Chicago group surfaced after one contract at the same price fell out for Tiffany Place, Burns confides. The 39 one- and two-story buildings hold one-, two- and three-bedroom units in 19 floor plans ranging from 495 sf to 1,644 sf. Units average 897 sf, with an average rent of $581 per month or 65 cents per sf.

The Chicago buyer, which owns 3,000 units in Florida and Georgia, focuses on university towns, says Burns, who teamed with Hendrick's Tom Warren to close the sale. With the first deal filed away, Burns says the group is shopping for more Texas product for the portfolio.