WashREIT To Buy D.C.-Area Apartment Portfolio For $461M
A portfolio of over 2,000 D.C.-area apartments has found a buyer, the latest in a string of massive multifamily portfolio sales in the region.
WashREIT announced Wednesday it entered into an agreement to purchase seven communities totaling 2,113 in Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland for $461M.
The REIT did not disclose the seller of the properties, but property records show they are owned by Pantzer Properties. Bisnow reported last month that Pantzer retained CBRE to market a seven-property Maryland and Virginia portfolio.
The apartment portfolio, consisting of garden-style, Class-B communities in the suburbs, is roughly 95% occupied.
The properties include The Point at McNair Farms and The Point at Dulles communities in Herndon, The Point at Germantown and The Point at Watkins Mill in Montgomery County, the Point at Bull Run in Manassas, plus The Point at Alexandria and The Point at Leesburg.
WashREIT CEO Paul McDermott said the company saw that new development has focused on the urban core while supply remains stable in the suburbs, despite growing demand for suburban apartments.
"We are expanding our multifamily portfolio to serve the fast-growing cohort of renters — aging millennials — who can't afford home ownership or urban infill rents and are drawn to well-located, Class-B suburban multifamily with its larger living spaces and excellent community services," McDermott said in a release.
The acquisition comes after a first quarter during which over 11,000 Mid-Atlantic suburban apartments traded for $2.2B, all sold by Dallas-based Lone Star Funds. The deals included a 10-property portfolio sale to Morgan Properties for $890M and a 6,000-unit sale to the Kushner Cos. for $1.1B.
