Colorado Real Estate Journal -
McWhinney’s efforts to get into the Fort Collins apartment market paid off with the acquisition of a 16.1-acre site on the city’s growing east side. McWhinney plans to build the Trails at Timberline, a 314- unit Class A community, on the property at the northeast corner of Timberline and Drake roads. It purchased the land, through an entity called DTMF Investments LLC, from SC Multifamily LLC for $3.55 million. The Loveland-based company beat out several other prospective buyers, including national apartment developers, to acquire the site, according to Ryan Schaefer, president of Chrisland Commercial Real Estate Inc., who represented the seller with Chrisland’s Jake Hallauer. “This is the best multifamily site that I have seen trade hands in the past decade in Northern Colorado,” Schaefer said in a statement. “The combination of the highly visible and desirable infill location near employers and services makes this site one of a kind.” “It’s an up-and-coming area,” said Mike Hill, vice president of development and operations for McWhinney’s multifamily team. The site is catty-corner from Rigden Farm, a growing community that includes a King Soopers-anchored retail center, and near Bellisimo Inc.’s proposed Bucking Horse development. There is a new police station just to the north, good access in all directions, including easy access to Interstate 25 and miles of hiking and biking trails, and proximity to Edora Park, with an indoor pool, ice rink, skate park and other amenities, said Hill. The Trails at Timberline will have a clubhouse with a swimming pool, spa, fitness facility and other resort-style amenities, as well as some “exciting” additional offerings that are still being fine-tuned, he said. The approximately $46 million apartment community will include 11 three-story residential buildings. Approximately 45 percent each will be one- and two-bedroom units, with the other 10 percent evenly split between studios and three-bedroom units. Apartments will include stainless steel appliances, upgraded flooring, granite counter tops and other high-end finishes. Designed by OZ Architecture, the Trails at Timberline will be similar to McWhinney’s Lake Vista community in Loveland, which was completed last year and is expected to be 95 percent leased within the next 60 days. McWhinney also is wrapping up construction of the Greens at Van de Water, which opened in Loveland late last year, and expects to complete the Arbour Square apartments in Westminster, where it has a second community planned, by early summer. The Trails at Timberline will be its first apartment development in Fort Collins. “We’ve been looking to get into the Fort Collins market for several years now,” said Hill. “This is the first one that’s really worked out and penciled financially for us.” The company is under contract on other sites in the city, but still is in the process of determining whether they make financial sense. Fort Collins has among the lowest apartment vacancy rates in the state, averaging around 3.6 percent, according to Apartment Insights’ Statistics/Trends Summary.