News
Multifamily Monday: Beyond Student Housing
June 27, 2011
| Remember when you got your first grown-up non-college apartment? That's sort of how Prime Property Investors feels right now. The multifamily owner with a student housing portfolio in six college markets nationally has now bought their second surburban garden complex in Deer Valley, a 244-unit property in Lake Bluff. (Yes, this means they don't get a meal plan anymore.) | |
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| The Lake and DuPage suburban multifamily markets are booming right now, and Deer Valley is in an especially good position near Abbot Labs and Great Lakes Naval Base, two of Lake County's top employers. Prime's Barb Gaffen and Michael Zaransky noted the difference between owning non-student housing multifamily: leases are expiring and new tenants moving in all the time instead of just at the beginning of the school year. To look good all year round, they're working on improvements including new granite, stainless kitchens, and a new fitness center. Prime bought its first conventional multifamily housing in 2009, a garden-style complex in Naperville. | |
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| HFF's Matthew Lawton and Sean Fogarty brokered the deal between Prime and seller Stockbridge Real Estate Capital. The asset's 13 buildings were already more than 90% leased at the time of the all-cash sale. Prime plans to remain a large owner of student housing and diversify with acquisitions of traditional garden-style apartments in the dense suburbs near its current holdings. |
