By Jack Stubbs
There has been no shortage of apartment communities changing hands throughout the Puget Sound region in recent weeks, and the Maple Crossing Apartments on Monday, April 30th sold for $28.4 million, or approximately $165,116 per unit, according to King County records.
The buyer was Irvine, California-based Avanath Capital Management, an investment management firm that focuses on affordable multifamily housing, urban real estate opportunities and commercial and multifamily mortgages. The seller was Investors Capital Group, a Seattle-based real estate investment firm.
The seller is making a significant profit on the property, which it acquired for approximately $6.84 million in November 2006, according to public documents.
Avanath Capital Management’s acquisition of the property comes at a time when the greater Puget Sound region is in need of quality housing, according to Ann Caruana, senior vice president of acquisitions at Avanath. “The Seattle metro is undergoing rapid economic growth and expansion, which is creating a deep need for quality affordable and workforce housing throughout the region. In fact, Seattle has added more than 220,000 jobs over the last decade,” Caruana said. “Maple Crossing will provide high quality and affordable housing options to residents throughout the Seattle metro and its surrounding submarkets, and will be an excellent addition to our growing portfolio in the area.”
The two-story Maple Crossing Apartments, located at 21900 SE Wax Road in Maple Valley, was built in 1993 and contains 172 units. The property offers a variety of one-bedroom units (which total 612 square feet), two-bedroom units (which range from 758 to 858 square feet) and three-bedroom units which total 1,004 square feet, according to the web site for the property. Some of the property amenities available to residents include an upgraded fitness studio, deck/patio, and individual garages.
The apartment complex is approximately two miles from the city of Maple Valley and twelve miles southeast of Renton.
The web site for the property also emphasizes the asset’s park-like and landscaped location, which offers easy access to Highway 18 and Highway 169. The property is also just 1.5 miles from the 117-acre Lake Wilderness Park (which offers a variety of recreational activities like swimming, fishing, tennis and play fields) and the 16-mile Cedar River Trail. The asset is also approximately three miles from the Danville-Georgetown Open Space, a 334-acre public park.
The Maple Crossing Apartments is also approximately six miles north of the city of Black Diamond, which was in the news earlier this year. On January 9th, 136 acres of undeveloped land—which are part of a master-planned community—was acquired by CalAtlantic Homes for $18.6 million from CCD Black Diamond Partners LLC, an entity affiliated with Bellevue-based Oakpointe Communities. The property is part of the Ten Trails ground-up development, which upon opening in 2018 will feature 19,000 square feet of retail space along with modern homes, restaurants and green spaces.
Founded in 2008, Avanath Capital Management operates across the country, with properties in California, Florida, New York and Maryland, among other states. According to Avanath’s web site, the company seeks investment opportunities in sectors that are historically underserved by institutional capital. The company is currently pursing apartment communities that were developed under the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program or using tax-exempt bonds.
In addition to the recently-acquired Maple Crossing Apartments, the company currently manages two other properties in the Puget Sound region: these include the 251-unit Silver Springs Apartments in Kent (which the company acquired in January 2016) and the 339-unit Lodge at Peasley Apartments in Federal Way, which the company acquired in September 2016.
Investors Capital Group, founded in 2001, operates a portfolio of 6,000 apartment units in 10 states across the country, some of which include Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Texas and Colorado. Since the company’s founding, it has purchased over 75 apartment projects with a value of nearly $1 million, according to its web site. The company focuses mainly on apartment investments between the $10 million and $30 million range, primarily in the Western U.S. Investor Capital Group’s two other properties in the Puget Sound region include the 141-unit Eagle Pointe Apartments and the 110-unit Willowbrook Apartments, which are both located in Spokane.
