A JV between Passco Companies and InSite Investment Realty has picked up Ovation at Tempe, a 270-unit, Class-B apartment complex off of South Hardy Drive for nearly $26M. And it's a unique deal: The JV, called Passco InSite, is raising capital not only from its traditional broker/dealer network, but crowdsourcing capital from individuals as well, says Passco CEO Bill Passo. It's an experiment, he tells us. “We've decided to see if this is a viable force in our projects."

Bill says it's a value-add property and it plans to spend in excess of $2M for both exterior and interior renovations on the property, a move that he says should push rents—now between $850 to $925/month—up by $50 to $150/month. Passco is eyeing other value-add investment plays across the Western US in both multifamily and retail, possibly using the blended crowdfunding model as well, he says.

Bill also recently took ice to head for ALS research, a cause already close to his heart (The ALS Association reports that it's now up to $180.4M in donations from the ice bucket challenge as of today). Passco supports other charitable orgs as well, including the Orangewood Children’s Foundation (which helps victims of abuse, neglect and abandonment), Apartments4Heroes (which provides low-cost apartments to wounded veterans), KidWorks (which helps at-risk children and families), the American Red Cross, and many local fire departments.