Knowing when a market's at its peak is tough, but it isn't that hard to understand that Seattle multifamily a lot better now than in 2008—which makes it a good time to sell assets acquired back then.

Recently metro Philadelphia-based Equus Capital Partners sold a seven-property, 1,829-unit multifamily portfolio with assets in the Seattle, Portland and Salt Lake MSAs to LA-based TruAmerica for $255M. Equus VP Greg Curci (here hiking The Narrows in Zion National Park with his wife, Chrissy) tells us the firm enjoyed a considerable run of both rent and asset value growth since it bought the properties in 2008. "As we approach the end of this particular fund’s life, we’re fortunate to have such favorable market conditions to sell into," he says.

The properties are in the Seattle submarkets of Lynnwood, Kent and Silverdale; Wilsonville in Portland; and Downtown Salt Lake City; and were all developed between 1982 and 1990. At the time of the sale, the portfolio was 97% leased. Jon Hallgrimson, Eli Hanicek, Frank Bosl, Carrie Kahn and Graham Taylor of CBRE repped Equus for the Seattle and Portland assets. The fundamentals in Seattle remain among the most compelling of any major city in the US, Greg adds, so Equus plans to be a buyer, too. "We're looking to acquire multifamily in the Pacific Northwest for our most current fund.”