Bascom Buys $190M Breakers Apartments

DENVER-The Irvine, CA-based Bascom Group, which recently sold a $123 million complex in Tustin, CA has acquired the 1,523-unit Breakers Resort, a 190-acre group of six multifamily properties, for $190.5 million. The deal, believed to be the largest apartment transaction in the history of Denver, includes "what is possibly the best remaining undeveloped parcel of land in the city of Denver," according to Bascom.

The development parcel, known as Pride's Crossing, is an 18.23-acre tract that is fully entitled for condominium construction and allows for the development of more than 600 units in buildings with heights of up to 150 feet. Bascom acquired the Breakers, which is at 9099 E. Mississippi Ave., in a joint venture with Koelbel and Co.

The seller of the property was the original development team and joint venture between the Feld Co. and Koelbel and Co., which conceived of the project and began development in 1989. Debt financing was provided by Lehman Bros. and was arranged by Gary Mozer and Lee Norman of Century City, CA-based George Smith Partners.

Bascom's principal for acquisitions, Andrew Newton, oversaw the purchase of the Breakers, which is built around a 50-acre man-made marina called Sunfish Lake and employs a master-planned village layout. The six developments that compose the community are Oyster Keys, Friday's Harbor, Marble Head, Gold Coast, Winter Beach and Boundary Bay. Unit sizes range from 650 sf to 1,809 sf, with an average of 1,019 sf. Asking rents range from $735 to $2,810.

Bascom calls the property "truly a unique and irreplaceable asset in that it is the largest, highest-quality-constructed infill residential property within the Denver city limits." The company says that the 18.23-acre development site offers considerable flexibility in the selection and design of the product, which could be townhouses, mid rise apartments or condominiums.

Each of the six villages at the Breakers features a pool, a clubhouse, laundry facilities and other village-specific amenities. In addition, residents have access to the 26,000-sf Catamaran Club, which includes tennis courts, an indoor basketball court, a Jacuzzi, a fitness room and locker rooms.

The Bascom Group's purchase of the Breakers closed nearly concurrently with its sale of the 628-unit Creekside Meadows in Tustin to Seattle-based Security Properties Inc., Principal Real Estate Investors and the State of Illinois Public Pension Fund. That deal sold for $123 million and was one of the largest Orange County apartment complex sales in the past six years.