United Dominion Snaps Up Two for $50M

RICHMOND, VA-Multifamily REIT United Dominion Realty Trust Inc. has revealed two recent apartment community acquisitions totaling nearly $50 million. The company adds to its portfolio the Columbia, MD-based 178-unit Summit Meadows, and Riverside, CA’s 240-unit Windemere at Sycamore Highlands.

The 12-year-old Summit Meadows property was 96% filled with tenants at the time of the sale, and it cost UDRT $21.1 million. Charlotte, NC-headquartered Summit Properties Inc. was the seller. Located between Washington, DC and Baltimore, the complex sits at 8600 Cobblefield Dr. in close proximity to the I-95 Corridor. Sprawled out among nearly 11 acres, Summit Meadows consists of 11 low-rise residential buildings, and a separate community structure with a fitness center, all of which carries a 2002 assessed value of about $10.5 million. The apartment community last changed hands in 1994 when Summit acquired it for approximately $8.3 million

Windemere at Sycamore Highlands commanded a price of $28.8 million. It, too, boasted an occupancy level of 96% at the time of the sale. Just barely one-year-old, the apartment complex consists of several low-rise buildings, as well as a fitness center, business center, and clubhouse. It occupies a 12.5-acre plot at 5925 Sycamore Canyon Blvd. in Southern California’s burgeoning Inland Empire region. The property has a 2002 assessed value of nearly $20 million.

A UDRT spokesperson tells GlobeSt.com that UDRT senior executive vice president of acquisitions Mark Wallis is currently out of the country and unavailable for comment on the acquisitions. However, Wallis did discuss the company’s strategies during UDRT’s recent third quarter earnings conference call. “We’ll continue our strategy of selling assets as long as the sale prices are favorable,” he explains. “In addition we expect to sell older assets in our core markets then acquire new assets in those core markets when we can. However, we’re not going to force acquisitions in sunbelt markets where it appears overbuilding and look of job growth are going to produce flat growth and rents for the near future.