GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Brand-Building TIC Play Adds 314 Units

"It was just a good time to sell," Richard Harrell, asset manager in Dallas for the Atlanta-based Trammell Crow Residential, says about the 2301 Pebblevale Dr. property, developed in a joint venture with the Haggard family of Plano. He says the JV retired capital from the original lender, CalSTRS, when the deal closed.

The buyer is a JV between Mission Residential LLC and Triple Net Properties Inc. of Santa Ana, CA, which made a slam dunk for an asset tagged for sale at $18.5 million. David Wieland, Mission Residential principal, says the strategy is to build a portfolio by making pre-emptive strikes aimed at eliminating the competition by out-pricing them and a promise of a quick close. Though the selling price is being kept under wraps, it's a safe bet that it sold for close to the ask, given the number of offers, a $13.3-million assessment and a 95% occupancy.

"We started negotiations when Trammell Crow first started marketing Riverwalk," Wieland tells GlobeSt.com. "At the end of the day, Trammell Crow Residential decided to take it to market to make sure our pricing was competitive."

The acquisition is Mission Residential's second one in less than two months in Dallas/Fort Worth and fourth for the portfolio. And with the others, the Riverwalk name will be changed to Mission Collin Creek. The Mission brand now has 1,100 units in Dallas/Fort Worth and Charlotte, NC. This year, Wieland and partner, Chris Finlay of Vienna, VA, hope to add 5,000 to 6,000 units.

Built in 1989, Riverwalk was one of less than a dozen complexes developed in North Texas during a four-year period when the real estate market bottomed out. The Riverwalk's sale was brokered by Hendricks & Partners' Tom Burns, senior investment adviser, and Thomas Warren, associate partner. Burns says the sale closed four months after the property went up for sale. "We had good activity on it," he says of the 12 to 15 investors.

"It's clearly a B quality in an A location," Wieland says. The complex, positioned on 19.5 acres, is close to Collin Creek Mall and tucked into one of, if not the, fastest growing cities in the state.

The 23-building Mission Collin Creek's units average 849 sf. The average monthly rent is $734 or 86 cents per sf. The complex has 64 studios, 160 one-bedroom floor plans, 62 two-bedroom units and 28 three-bedroom apartments.

Wieland says a makeover will begin in 45 days and finish in three weeks to coincide with a new marketing campaign. The dressing up will include painting the exterior, adding color to the landscaping and retooling the clubhouse and fitness center. "It's been sitting there for so long that people tend to drive by and not give it a second thought," Wieland says.

The Riverwalk sale is Trammell Crow Residential's second disposition in a month. JPI of Irving picked up the 490-unit Reserve at Park Central at 12009 Coit Rd. in Dallas. Renamed to the Jefferson at Park Center, the deed is rumored to have changed hands for $90,000 per door. The asking price was $47 million.