SoCal Investor Wins Face-Off for 160 Units

RICHARDSON, TX-A private investor from Southern California, outbidding 17 other would-be buyers, has gained control of the 160-unit Villages at Clear Springs. With the trade, Investcorp International Inc. has closed the book on another fund.

Billed as a "luxury boutique" property, the Villages at Clear Springs at 2600 Clear Springs Dr. was in the market five weeks with a $13.5-million tag. Although the chief dealmaker won't discuss the final price, the per door breakdown of the full list isn't out of the norm for the dynamics of the area. The 98%-leased Villages is situated in a one-mile ring with an average household income of $123,000 and median house price of more than $205,000. the 10.7-acre asset also backs up to the Texas 190 service road.

Don Ostroff, senior director for Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc.'s multi-housing group, tells GlobeSt.com that the buyer assumed a HUD 221 (d)(4) loan and teamed it with 1031 exchange funds from a multifamily property sale in California to make the close. "The assumption was packaged and approved in 30 days," he says. "That was a very quick turnaround. Income and occupancy both increased during the marketing." The HUD-insured loan expires in 2038, but is prepayable without penalty as of Jan. 1, 2009, he says.

The eight-year-old Villages has 20 buildings with attached and detached garages plus a clubhouse. The unit mix has one-, two- and three-bedrooms ranging from 706 sf to 1,355 sf. Monthly rents go from $701 to $1,326. According to the marketing brochure, an estimated 70% of the tenants are white-collar workers, with 40% of the mix in high-tech jobs.

Dallas County tax records show the New York City-based Investcorp acquired the Villages in August 2000. "It was the last multifamily piece in a fund," Ostroff says. "It was time to close out the fund." As for the new owner, he says "there is no sale horizon. They intend to hold it long term, depending on the market."