Bascom to Buy $300MM of Apartments

Bascom Northwest Ventures, an apartment redevelopment company formed by the Irvine, Calif.- based Bascom Group, has announced that it plans to acquire $300 million worth of apartments over the next three years.Brian Wirtz, a former vice president of acquisitions with Essex Property Trust and AvalonBay Communities, has been tapped to head the venture's push into Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and Utah from his San Francisco base, Bascom said. The venture's strategy will be to acquire apartment properties in good locations and then reposition them with "extensive capital improvements and institutional-quality property management," which will result in increased rents, reduced expenses, and "significant added resale value," the company said. "We believe the timing is right to invest in value-added opportunities in the Bay Area and the Pacific Northwest," said Jerry Fink, founder of the Bascom Group. "Continued job losses, overbuilding, and home purchases have combined to produce significant deterioration in the cash flow for apartments in these regions. However, these are all great long-term markets, many with high barriers to entry."