EXCLUSIVE: Choice Condominiums Breaks Into Metro With 108-Unit Buy

DALLAS-The Atlanta-based Choice Condominiums LLC has marched into the metro with a 108-unit buy in Uptown from Gables Residential Trust as part of a large-scale disposition tied to last year's $2.8-billion buyout. The leading converter is planning to pump another $25,000 per unit into readying Gables Pearl Street for condo sales.

The first part of the plan for 2201 Wolf St. calls for a name change to Topaz Townhomes in Uptown. The class A gated complex was 99% leased at sale time, but Choice Condominiums' plan is to have some models ready to show by the end of April, Ron Lozoff, principal of Choice Condominiums, tells GlobeSt.com. If his prediction is on target, Topaz Townhomes will be sold out in a year.

Local market sources believe the market entry cost about $18 million. All that Lozoff will say is he was up against 10 other would-be buyers in the best and final, including Harwood International Inc. which has the 202-condo Azure under construction right across the street. Since ING Clarion bought the Boca Raton, FL-headquartered Gables last year, select properties across the nation have hit the block, with the Dallas inventory being divvied for sale among teams at Apartment Realty Advisors, the Apartment Group and Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP. Gables Pearl Street was brought to market by Jeffrey Price of Dallas-based Apartment Group.

"The major reason we picked this property is we thought the attached garages differentiated them from other properties in the submarket," Lozoff says. The one- and two-bedroom condos, ranging from 809 sf to 1,270 sf, will be tagged at $240 per sf. "It's the only property in Uptown at this price range with attached garages," he stresses.

Not only is the 3.64-acre asset within walking distance of the CBD, it's also been sold with leases in place to long-time residents paying $1,150 to $1,490 per month in rent. Those factors, Lozoff points out, set up a formula for a number of tenants to become buyers. "When rent approximates mortgage payments and condo association fees, it indicates a high conversion of existing residents to buyers," he points out.

With its first Dallas deed now in hand, Lozoff says he's definitely in the market for more North Texas properties to pattern the play after its Houston push, now in the third year. Choice Condominiums has invested $260 million into seven properties in the Greater Houston market, selling more than 600 condos to date. "This is our entry to Dallas," he says of the Topaz, "and we do expect to do more properties."