$32M Deal Jump-Starts Texas Buying Plan

Daniel Vittone of Voit Commercial Brokerage in Irvine, CA says Carmel Village Retirement Residences' first investment is an 85%-occupied, four-building portfolio at 2600-656 S. Loop West. "They're getting familiar with the property right now. Then, they can see how they can increase value through repositioning or capital investments in the buildings," Vittone says.

Vittone tells GlobeSt.com that the buyer expects to close on its second office building in Houston in 60 to 75 days. "They're setting up some business relationships and once those have solidified, can meet their financial goals," he says about long-range plans involving joint venture partners. In the early going, he says Carmel Village will be looking for multi-tenant industrial product and class B and C office asset in the $15-million to $50-million range. "They're seeking secondary and tertiary markets and projects with better returns and more cash flow--and 8% cap rates or better," he says.

Although it's not selling all that it owns, Mammoth did hawk another holding in recent months, the 19-acre Brittmoore Road Industrial Park in the northwest submarket. This time, Vittone says Mammoth elected to sell the 20-year-old South Loop West buildings because cap rates are depressed and demand is growing.

Vittone partnered with Voit senior vice president Alan Pekarcik to represent the buyer and the portfolio's seller, Mammoth Equities LLC of San Juan Capistrano, CA. In turn, they brought in Grubb & Ellis Co.'s senior vice presidents Darrell Betts and Scot Farber in Houston and Dallas, respectively, and vice president John Nicholson, also part of the Houston team, to assist on the portfolio's complex structured transaction, which required a loan assumption too.