By Jack Stubbs
On Monday, August 27th, San Francisco-based management and investment company FPA Multifamily sold the James Apartments in Lakewood for $18.05 million, or approximately $125,347 per unit, according to Pierce County records. FPA sold the asset to Watt Companies, a real estate investment company based in Santa Monica, California.
HFF represented the seller and procured the buyer in the transaction.
The two-story James Apartments, located at 4828 123rd St. SW, was built in 1976 and contains 144 units, according to the property listing on apartments.com. The asset offers a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, according to the property’s web site. The one-bedroom units range from 590 to 700 square feet and rent for between $1,060 and $1,210, while the two-bedroom units range from 740 to 1,046 square feet and rent for between $1,250 and $1,520. The largest units total 1,240 square feet and rent for between $1,550 and $1,675.
Some of the in-unit features include individual climate control, balcony/patio and window coverings, while some of the community amenities available to residents include a clubhouse, on-site property management and maintenance services and a state-of-the-art fitness center.
The web site emphasizes the property’s “peaceful, park-like setting,” which is located in close proximity to Clover Park Technical College, the Pierce County Sounder Train and Gravelly Lake. The asset is also roughly one mile south of the Lakewood Towne Center shopping complex and approximately three miles from the former McChord Airforce base (now Joint Base Lewis-McChord). The James Apartments is also about nine miles south of Tacoma and about one mile from access to the intersection of Washington State Route 512 and Interstate-5.
Founded in 1985, FPA Multifamily is a real estate investment firm that utilizes institutional private equity for apartment investments, according to the company’s web site. The company has regional offices in Atlanta, Dallas and and Portland, among other locations across the country, and has a total transactional history comprising 500 assets in excess of 100,000 units valued at over $10.1 billion. Property management is directed through Trinity Property Consultants, an exclusive affiliate of FPA.
