As the weather warms up, three seasoned surfers, Berkadia's Chip Nash, Wade Schmitz and Bob Heard will be hitting the waves more often. But they’re still getting deals done; the team (including partner Greg Austin) just closed two multifamily investment sales, Avalon Square and Blalock Woods.
Chip (who’s been surfing since he was 15) tells us Avalon Square was the most intricate deal he's ever done. The property is 220 units and in a very attractive location—Westheimer and Kirby. But it involved a short-term land lease that the landowner did not want to renegotiate, and 99% of potential buyers weren’t willing to take that on. It also made finding financing difficult. It took three years to close the sale, finally to a private buyer from Austin, but that added another moving part to the complicated deal—it was a 1031 exchange, so the team had to immediately arrange a new loan.
Blalock Woods sold to a local developer, says Wade (showing off one of the 21 vintage surfboards he's collected), and it’ll eventually be redeveloped. The 17-acre tract is in a great location in Spring Branch and has solid revenue while the new owner designs and picks its timing to redevelop. The seller (a family) had owned it for many years and felt like the property had lived its economic life and it was time for it to be something new.
Next up, the Berkadia team is closing a deal in Galveston at the end of the month and one in Southwest Houston in April. Both are loan assumptions that were under contract last year and are just taking a while to work through financing. The gents also have some tax credit deals under contract near The Woodlands. When not at the closing table, Chip, Wade and Bob (pictured) will be spending as much time in Matagorda and Surfside as possible, and planning frequent surf trips to Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
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