DENVER, CO - Oak Coast Properties and BMC Investments announced the $78 million acquisition of St. Moritz Apartments in Lakewood, Colorado. The acquisition marks the sixth investment partnership between Oak Coast Properties and BMC, as well as the seventh Oak Coast Properties assignment for BLDG Management, a property management affiliate of BMC. Financing for the transaction is being facilitated through HFF.
“We remain bullish on Denver and this community signals our continued appetite for investment in this market,” said Phillip Nahas, managing partner of Oak Coast Properties. “The region’s employment is booming and the population continues to climb alongside it. With housing demand still exceeding the available stock, investment in existing rentals provides attractive ROI potential.”
The 360-unit community brings the Oak Coast Properties Denver portfolio to nearly 4,000 units. St. Moritz Apartments will be managed by BLDG Management. The firm oversees and operates a 6,500-unit portfolio, which includes numerous additional Oak Coast Properties’ apartment communities in the region.
The acquisition represents the first in Lakewood for the joint partnership of BMC and Oak Coast Properties. “With fewer apartment properties built in Lakewood compared to other regional submarkets, this has historically been a difficult place to source assets with attractive return profiles,” said Max Bresner, principal and chief operating officer of BMC Investments. “We were able to win this community in a competitive bid process by identifying rent positioning and operating efficiencies and by leveraging our local market knowledge and BLDG’s extensive operating platform in metro Denver.”
Originally built in 1986, St. Moritz Apartments sits adjacent to the Colfax Retail Corridor with easy proximity to light rail, Downtown Denver, numerous regional amenities and robust employment opportunities. The community offers numerous onsite amenities including a dog park, pool and spa, gas fire pits, fitness center, basketball court, putting green, and business center. Renovation plans for the community include enhancements to the common areas and amenities.
Charles Halladay, Brock Yaffe, and Rick Salinas of HFF’s debt placement team assisted in securing a $55 million acquisition loan for the buyers through Freddie Mac’s (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) CME Program. The securitized loan will also be serviced by HFF, a Freddie Mac Multifamily Approved Seller/Servicer for Conventional Loans.
Shane Ozment, vice chairman of ARA Newmark in Denver represented the buyers in the transaction.