San Francisco-based FPA Multifamily paid $221M to acquire a 696-unit, garden-style apartment community in Waltham in the Boston area's largest multifamily sale this year.

FPA acquired the Gardencrest Apartment Homes from Harbor Group International, with CBRE brokering the deal, the brokerage announced Thursday.

CBRE Multifamily Capital, a lending arm of the firm, provided a $156.1M acquisition loan to the buyer, property records show.

FPA is rebranding the property as ReNew Waltham and plans to launch renovations. The community, built between 1949 and 1972, consists of 64 residential buildings, a mix of apartments and townhouses, spread across 34 acres. The units average 906 SF and are all rented out at market rates.

The property's amenities include a clubhouse, gym and pool. It sits near the intersection of Middlesex Road and Linden Street, directly south of Bentley University.

CBRE's Simon Butler, Biria St. John, John McLaughlin and Brian Bowler brokered the deal on behalf of the seller.

The sale marks the largest multifamily deal in the Boston area this year, according to CBRE, beating out the $212M July sale of a 29-story tower in Boston's Theater District to Carmel Partners.

Those deals have been the bright spots in an otherwise down investment sales market in Greater Boston, which was more than 50% below peak dollar volume in the second quarter as high interest rates weighed on the market, according to Colliers.

Norfolk, Virginia-based HGI bought the Waltham property as part of a $1.8B portfolio acquisition in 2017. HGI last year sold a separate portfolio of six Greater Boston properties totaling 1,722 units for $460M.

FPA made its first Boston-area acquisition in 2019 with the $130M purchase of a 562-unit property in Westborough. In September 2022, it acquired a 120-unit Worcester property for $26.7M.