Colorado Real Estate Journal -

ARA sells three apt. communities

by John Rebchook

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Three Denver-area apartment communities recently sold for a total of $80.9 million.

While each community had different buyers and sellers, they all sold in the same price range per unit, despite all of them having been constructed in different eras.

Two of them were value add deals, while one was a newer product with a more stabilized rent structure in place.

The other common thread for the communities in Lakewood, Aurora and Westminster is they were all listed, marketed and sold by the ARA team of Jeff Hawks, Doug Andrews, Terrance Hunt and Shane Ozment.

Combined, they have 790 units.

The biggest of the three, in both the number of units and sales price, was Lakeview Towers, near Belmar in Lakewood.

The 290-unit community at 600 S. Reed Court sold for $33.05 million, or $113,966 per unit.

The buyer was Colrich Properties of San Diego and the seller was Carmel Partners of San Francisco.

Lakeview Towers was built in 1969, making it the oldest of the three communities.

Designwise, it was ahead of its time and its location can’t be beat, Hawks said.

“It was an elevator served building with interior hallways and it is along the lake at Belmar,” Hawks said.

“It’s adjacent to brand new construction,” he added.

“It’s a great location with all of the stores and restaurants in the area, from Super Target to Whole Foods,” Hawks said.

“It’s a great value-add opportunity,” he said.

“We had a great deal of interest from buyers,” he added. “This is exactly the kind of product a lot of owners are looking for.” The second largest of the three, the 224-unit Camden Pinnacle at 1420 W.

116th Ave. in Westminster, sold for $24.25 million, or $108,259 per unit.

The buyer was Resource Real Estate of Philadelphia. Separately, Resource Real Estate also recently paid $30.6 million for the 276-unit Camden Centennial at 2961 W. Centennial Drive in Littleton.

“Camden Pinnacle is an ‘80s vintage development,” Hawks said.

“It was a Westminster play,” he said. “It is near the old AT&T center that is now the Avaya facility that is undergoing a big renovation, which will bring a lot of new jobs to the area,” Hawks said.

“Like with the Belmar area, it is hard to build anything new in Westminster,” Hawks said.

“To build something brand new in Westminster would cost you $160,000 or $170,000 per unit,” Hawks said.

‘If you can buy a
nice property like
this one for around
$100,000 per unit,
you can then afford
to upgrade it and
bring a high-quality
development to an
area where there
is not a lot of new
product being built.'

Jeff Hawks, ARA

“So if you can buy a nice property like this one for around $100,000 per unit, you can then afford to upgrade it and bring a high-quality development to an area where there is not a lot of new product being built,” Hawks said.

The third and smallest of the three deals was the 220-unit Westridge apartments at 445 Helena Court in Aurora.

The community, built in 2001, sold for $23.6 million, or $107,273 per unit.

The buyer was Peak Properties of Boulder and the seller was Jackson Square Properties of San Francisco.

“This is not a value-add deal like the other two,” Hawks said.

“The new owner won’t have to spend a lot of money on renovating it,” he said. “They’ll just clean it up a bit and do a little remodeling, but nothing major.” He said Westridge benefits from its proximity to the Center Tech Plaza Shopping Center, as well as easy access to the Anschutz Medical campus on the Fitzsimons site and the Buckley Air Force Base.

“Aurora is one of the biggest magnets for job growth in the entire region, but there aren’t that many new apartment developments to meet the demand,” Hawks said.
“This is one of the five newest apartment communities that is in a close proximity to DIA"

Other News

Organic Inc. of Denver paid $10 million to WLA Investments Inc. of Newport Beach, Calif., for the 132-unit apartment building at 2380 W. 76th Ave. in unincorporated Adams County. The transaction was handled by the CBRE team of David Potarf, Dan Woodward and Matt Barnett. Granite Peak Partners of Santa Barbara, Calif. paid $6.5 million to RLE Properties of Denver for an 85-unit apartment building at 4805 E.

Kentucky Ave. in Denver. The transaction was handled by Tim Shunta of Unique Properties.

Josh Newell, a senior adviser at Pinnacle Real Estate Advisors LLC, represented the local buyer who paid $1.79 million for a 24-unit apartment building at 1525 Yates St. in Denver.

The sale for the building, constructed in 1969, equates to $74,583 per sf and $74,583 per unit.

Brokers at Pinnacle Real Estate Advisors represented the buyer and seller in the $1.58 million sale of a 23-unit apartment building at 2710 Federal Blvd. in Denver. The sale equates to $68,478 per unit and $115.92 per sf for the building, which was constructed in 1961.

Josh Newell represented the seller and Matt Lewallen and Kevin Calame represented the buyer.

A limited liability company, 1307 Franklin, paid $845,000 to Gray Stone Development 1307 LLC, for a four-unit apartment building at 1307 Franklin St. in Denver. Jason Koch of the Unique Apartment Group was the listing broker and Ryan Floyd, also of the Unique Apartment Group, was the cooperating broker.

A limited liability company, E. 5th Apts. LLC, paid $705,000 to another LLC, 5th Ave. Flat, for a four-unit apartment building at 712 E. Fifth Ave., in Denver. Ryan Floyd of the Unique Apartment Group was the listing broker and Jason Koch of Unique was the cooperating broker.

David Chvosta sold a three-unit apartment building at 1750 Washington St. in Denver for $629,000. He was represented by the Calame Lewallen team at Pinnacle Real Estate Advisors LLC in the transaction.

Josh Newell, of Pinnacle Real Estate Advisors LLC, represented the local buyer and seller of an eight-unit apartment building at 5562 Newland Way in Arvada. The $475,000 sale equates to $59,375 per unit and $93.73 per sf.

The property was constructed in 1971. Newell represented both the local seller and the local buyer in the transaction.

Chienlin Chen paid $290,000 to Kevin E. Dougherty for a two-unit apartment building constructed in 1906 at 490 S. Lincoln St. in Denver.

The listing broker was Jason Koch of the Unique Apartment Group and the buyer’s broker was Brent Jones of Coldwell Banker Devonshire.