November 4-November 17, 2015 —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— Page 5AA
BMC has sold about 1,000 of
the units, leaving it with about
3,500.
“When we went to the (first)
closing with (Belgarde), there
were no hassles; they were
great,” Joblon said. “Some-
times sellers try to kind of stick
stuff at the end, but these guys
were a class act.”
Then, Joblon’s partners at
BMC sold a 550-unit apartment
portfolio in Baltimore and
wanted to do a 1031 exchange
in Denver.
Joblon got on the phone with
Belgarde.
“I know you guys have three
more properties in Denver and
my guys have this money, so
why don't you sell two of them
to me?” Joblon proposed.
“They set a price, I had them
underwritten in a week, and
we closed in January,” Joblon
said about that $72 million
transaction.
Recently, BMC had some
more 1031 exchange money to
invest.
Once again, Joblon called
Belgarde.
“You know what, you guys
have only one property left in
Denver and it doesn’t make
any sense for you, so why don’t
you sell it to me? “They said, ʻIt
works for us.ʼ They set a price
and I had it underwritten in a
week, again.
“It was really about being at
the right place and the right
time and it was all about the
relationship,” Joblon said.
It was a direct deal, with no
broker involved, he said.
BMC paid $111,300 per unit
for the community at 13100 E.
Kansas Drive.
Records show that Belgarde
paid $27.6 million, or $47,280
per unit, for Liberty Creek in
February 2005.
The property was built in
1981 and BMC has committed
$3 million to upgrading the
property.
“We bought it way below
replacement cost, but I don’t
think that is a fair metric for
evaluating the deal,” Joblon
said.
“After all, it is a 1980s prod-
uct,” he said. “We bought it
significantly below replace-
ment cost, but you couldn't
build this type of property in
today’s market.
“What I do think is that it
was a fair price for us and a fair
price for the seller,” he said.
One thing he really likes is
its location near the former
Fitzsimons Army Medical Cen-
ter, which now is home to the
Anschutz Medical Campus,
Colorado Science+Technolo-gy
Park, the Children's Hospital
and, eventually, the Veterans
Affairs hospital.
“We own a lot of land at
Fitzsimons,” Joblon said. “We
own four acres at the southeast
corner of Colfax and Peoria,
where a (retail center) is under
development,” Joblon said.
BMC bought the property with
the Kentro Group.
“We also have another
property in Fitzsimons under
contract, which will be a sig-
nificant deal that we will be
announcing shortly,” he said.
Joblon said the Fitzsimons
area and Cherry Creek are two
of his favorite submarkets in
Denver, even though they are
so different.
“We’re big fans of Fitzsi-
mons, with all of the jobs being
created out there,” Joblon said.
“And there really isn’t too
much supply being built to
compete with existing proper-
ties,” he said.
“We also are a big fan of
Aurora,” Joblon said. “Aurora
is very pro-business and easy
to work with.”
BMC’s equity partner at
Liberty Creek is Los Angeles-
based Oak Coast Properties.
Oak Coast typically makes
equity investments of $1 mil-
lion to $20 million for deals
with a total cost of $5 million
to $75 million.
“BMC’s track record and
investment philosophy in Den-
ver made them an ideal partner
for Oak Coast Properties to
work with on a deal like this,”
said Phillip Nahas, Oak Coast
Properties’ managing partner.
“The value-add investment
strategy employed for Liberty
Creek Apartments is indicative
of our firm’s overall portfolio
strategy,” he continued.
“Our sweet spot is the acqui-
sition and renovation of quality
assets in markets with strong
fundamentals,” according to
Nahas.
“We aim to acquire strong
cash-flowing assets that have
room for bottom-line growth
through property enhance-
ments and increased rents,”
Nahas said.
He also said they target
markets that are economically
diversified and possess strong
and sustained employment
and wage growth.
BMC would like to buy more
apartment properties in the
Denver area, but it is becom-
ing harder and harder to find
deals that pencil out, according
to Joblon.
“It’s pretty incredible how
much properties have appreci-
ated since we started buying in
2010,” Joblon said.
“In many cases, prices have
just about doubled since we
first started acquiring proper-
ties,” he said.
“We want to buy more assets,
but we also plan to remain dis-
ciplined,” Joblon said.
“If we find the right property
and can acquire it at the right
price, we will pounce,” he said.
“If not, we will remain
focused on what we have.
We’re under no pressure to buy
anything more, so we will only
act on the right opportunity.
Multifamily
Shown is the pool at the Liberty Creek Apartment Home Community in
Aurora.
