Colorado Real Estate Journal - January 21, 2015
Lowe Enterprises Investors of Los Angeles recently paid $51 million for the 360-unit St. Moritz apartment community in Lakewood. The St. Mortiz, at 1724 Robb St., was sold by DiNapoli Capital Partners of San Jose, California. “This was part of a four-property portfolio sold by DiNapoli, which is a high-net-worth, family partnership,” said Terrance Hunt of the Denver office of ARA. Hunt represented DiNapoli in the transaction with fellow ARA brokers Jeff Hawks, Doug Andrews and Shane Ozment. Together, the portfolio sold for $173 million, Hunt said. There was a lot of interest from prospective buyers in the St. Moritz, which was built in 1986, Hunt said. “It is near a future light-rail stop and it is kind of the Applewood area near Wheat Ridge; it’s a real solid Western suburban location,” he said. “For Lowe, this was just a great value-add play,” Hunt said. Lowe will be able to spruce up the interior of the units with things such as updated cabinets and make an excellent return on its investment, he said. He said DiNapoli remains bullish on the Denver market. “They still own the Hotel Teatro in downtown Denver,” Hunt said. “They were simply closing out the fund that owned these four properties,” Hunt said. “They really like Denver. The timing was excellent, given how strong the Denver-area apartment market is, he said. “They hit their mark on these properties,” Hunt said. DiNapoli would be interested in buying apartments in the Denver area, if it could find the right value-add opportunity. That, however, is no easy task. “They are continuing to look at opportunities,” Hunt said. However, DiNapoli has passed on potential recent transactions because it felt the prices were too high. “Let’s face it,” Hunt said. “It is tough to be a buyer today in Denver. It is such a competitive market, especially when it comes to value-add opportunities.”