A trio of major Dallas-area apartment sales announced already this week is throwing weight behind claims the Metroplex is one of the nation’s top markets for multifamily investors.
In deals announced in rapid succession Monday, investors picked up a combined total of 1,400 units spread across three complexes in the DFW suburbs. In the largest transaction, Miami-based Starwood Capital purchased the 690-unit Keystone at Castle Hills in Carrollton from Acre Valley Real Estate Capital. The day also brought news that investment and management company Bell Partners Inc. of Greensboro, North Carolina, acquired CityLine Park, a newly developed 435-unit apartment community in Richardson, on behalf of the firm’s Bell Core Fund I investors, and that Chevy Chase, Maryland-based FCP and VaultCap Partners of Dallas had bought the 275-unit Corey Place Apartments community in Grand Prairie as part of the two companies’ first joint venture.
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“We are on track for a record year in 2021, as we continue to see more out-of-state investors establishing or expanding a presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth multifamily market, especially the north and northwest Dallas suburbs,” CBRE Executive Vice President Danny Baker said in a release announcing the Keystone at Castle Hills deal, which CBRE brokered.
CBRE’s 2021 Global Multifamily Investor Intentions Survey released last month bears that out. DFW was third on the list of most preferred U.S. markets for multifamily investors looking to buy this year, with 26% targeting the metro. That’s ahead of Atlanta and Denver at 24% each, but behind Phoenix (33%) and No. 1 Austin (43%).
Echoing optimism about multifamily’s potential in DFW, Bell Partners Executive Vice President of Investments Nickolay Bochilo said its acquisition, which marks the company’s 23rd Texas property under ownership or management, “reflects our conviction in the favorable economic and rental housing market fundamentals in Dallas.”
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That doesn’t mean they won’t fight for tenants. The new owners of all three properties put a strong emphasis on amenities in their respective announcements. Keystone at Castle Hills will offer two resort-style pools with spas, a lap pool and splash pad, outdoor lounges with grilling areas, a new resident clubhouse with WeWork collaborative workspaces, and a fitness studio featuring Peloton bikes.
FCP and VaultCap said they plan to make significant capital improvements to the Corey Place garden apartment community, including the addition of a pool, splash pad, turf soccer field and outdoor kitchen. Meanwhile, Bell Partners will freshen up CityLine Park’s name, redubbing it Bell CityLine. The project, built in 2019, already features a clubhouse with a coffee bar, a fitness studio and a resort-style swimming pool with a tanning ledge.
CORRECTION, AUG. 3, 3:15 P.M. ET: This story has been updated to reflect that CityLine Park was acquired on behalf of Bell Partners' Bell Core Fund I investors.
