About a month after acquiring an apartment property in Olympia, S.F. investor Hamilton Zanze & Co found a property to its liking in Tacoma: Lakeside Landing at 1414 South Mildred St. It might be second banana to Seattle, but the Tacoma apartment market's got some legs, too (now there's a picture, a banana with legs). "Tacoma's been a strong secondary market to date in 2015," Berkadia senior managing director Kenny Dudunakis (snapped at a Bisnow event) tells us.

Built in 1969, the 450-unit property was 95% occupied at the time of sale. As a value-add play, it has strong potential, Kenny says, being less than a mile from Tacoma Community College and about four miles from Downtown Tacoma. The region's also part of an overall strong market. Seattle-Tacoma metrowide apartment vacancy reached 4.5% in Q1, 30 basis points lower than the close of '14. Rents were up 6.5% compared with a year earlier. Kenny, out of the Seattle office, facilitated the deal with senior director Jim Jensen of the Tacoma office.