GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Invesco Sells 248-Unit Apartment Complex for $86M-Plus

(To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)

SAN RAMON, CA-Legacy Partners of Foster City has acquired the 248-unit Copper Ridge Apartments here from Invesco Real Estate of Dallas $86.25 million. The complex sits on a golf course in a gated community and was marketed as a condo conversion opportunity, which is how Legacy plans to proceed.Moran & Co. had the disposition assignment. Listing broker Brett Betzler tells GlobeSt.com the offering drew nearly 20 bids. After setting a hurdle price and going back for best and finals, as many as 10 bidders were still involved. “The final price was well above the initial round of bids,” Betzler says. “People were stretching a little further than on a lot of other deals; this property really was ideal for a condo conversion.”In addition to its location–in a master-planned community where single-family homes are selling for $800,000 to $1 million–Betzler says the property was already mapped for conversion, has nine-foot ceilings, a washer and dryer in each unit and a garage for each unit, which is unusual for an apartment community constructed in the 1990s. Invesco’s director of acquisitions Jason Geer says the property was one of the primary candidates for conversion in its portfolio. Betzler says Invesco decided to test the market after receiving some unsolicited calls about the property. The sale price equates to $347,782 per unit. Betzler says he asked all bidders what they expected the retail sellout to be, and the price varied from an average of $400,000 per unit to $500,000 per unit depending on the extent of renovations bidders planned to make before selling the units.”The top bidders really studied the market,” he says. “Despite the price paid, if they do it right and the market goes up just a little bit, suddenly it makes a whole lot of sense.”Legacy Partners SVP Jeff Byrd, who worked on the deal, was unavailable for comment Thursday. In a prepared statement, he says Legacy was attracted to the asset because of the lack of competing product in its targeted price range. “San Ramon is an upscale city where the median home price was $749,000 in April,” he says. “Even after an extensive planned refurbishment, Copper Ridge’s units will be priced well below the median home value. At the price they’ll be listed at, there will be virtually no competition. This is a great opportunity for us to fill a desired niche in the marketplace.”Originally built in 1987, Copper Ridge’s unit mix includes 62 two-bed/2.5-bath homes, 124 two-bed/two-bath homes and 62 one-bed/one-bath homes. Residences range in size from 801 to 1,377 sf and current rents range from $1,275 to $2,172 per month.