California Investor Sets Sights on 120-Unit Repositioning

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GARLAND, TX-A Larkfield, CA investor has snagged his fifth multifamily property this year in the region, paying 96.67% of the $2.4-million list for a 120-unit value-add play.The private investor will invest roughly $200,000 into "sprucing up" the Spanish Villa Apartments at 110 N. Jupiter Rd., Christopher Deuillet, senior associate in Dallas for Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co., tells GlobeSt.com. The new owner got an 80%-leased complex positioned on 4.1 acres with the longest frontage on the main road than any other multifamily property in the neighborhood, according to Deuillet.Deuillet says the deal closed 45 days after the contract's effective date. The buyer secured a 10-year loan with a 30-year amortization and high 6% fixed-rate interest from Chicago-based LaSalle Bank to close the deal, the seller's broker says. The financing represented 80% loan to value. The deal closed with a 6.09% cap rate.Michael Phillips of Phillips Commercial in Dallas represented the buyer, who in turn put the real estate firm in charge of leasing and managing the all-bills paid mix of eight efficiencies, 80 one-bedroom units, 24 two-bedroom apartments and eight three-bedroom floor plans. Units range from 319 sf to 1,042 sf. Rents go from $370 to $720 per month.Deuillet says the upside lies in the vacancy, and not raising rents, and upgrades to the 38-year-old complex. "There's definitely a play here to improve the value," he says, citing nearby sales comps of $31,000 per unit or roughly $14,000 more than Spanish Villa's per door exchange.Deuillet says the seller, who owned Spanish Villa for nearly a decade, marked the sale of his last multifamily holding in the area. The private investor from nearby Richardson has been piecemeal selling his holdings for two years.