Two bank-owned apartment complex assets have been sold in separate transactions by an investment sales team at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank on behalf of a purchaser and a receiver.
Chris Hansen, a principal in Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Houston office, and John Dunning, a director in the firm’s Los Angeles office, marketed the sold assets.
Terra Vista Apartments, a 136-unit complex in Rancho Cordova, Calif., is one of the transactions that sold for more than $5 million to The Chesser Group, a local investor represented by Newmark Knight Frank, which was acquired by BGC Partners Inc. in October 2011.
In 2006, the same property sold for $7.6 million before the housing crisis began.
At the time of the most recent sale, the complex was 88% occupied. The seller was JPMorgan Chase, which acquired the property as REO.
“Once we underwrote the property, our investor was able to see the superior upside potential of Terra Vista Apartments and he moved quickly with aggressive terms and timing,” Dunning said. “Tracking the asset, then getting a contract accepted and executed prior to a public listing was key, as the bank had multiple offers.”
In a second transaction, the investment team closed a receivership of The Cove on Memorial Apartments, a 93-unit complex in Tulsa, Okla. to an undisclosed buyer.
The $1.2 million purchase price is considered an above-market price for a property that suffered from significant deferred maintenance over the course of a two-year bankruptcy.
The property was 65% occupied at the time of the sale.
California Bank and Trust, in conjunction with two receiverships in Texas and Oklahoma, hired Newmark Grubb Knight Frank to handle the disposition of these assets as well as three other apartment properties in 2011.
Dunning and Hansen work with market-rate sellers and buyers as well as banks, special servicers, attorneys and receivers seeking to dispose of distressed properties.
BGC Partners Inc., a global brokerage company based in New York, announced last month the integration of Newmark Knight Frank with Grubb & Ellis. The goal of this acquisition is to bring together the expertise of both businesses in order to create a new full-service commercial real estate platform along with a national appraisal business.
