A California-based buyer purchased its first apartment asset in Colorado Springs in the largest single-property multifamily sale, in terms of units, to close in the Southern Colorado city in 2018.
Buchanan Street Partners of Newport Beach, California, paid $72.5 million for Creekside at Palmer Park, a 328-unit community at 1350 Cascade Creek View.
CBRE Capital Markets, Multifamily Properties’ David Potarf, Dan Woodward, Matthew Barnett and Jake Young represented the seller, Colorado Springs based Griffis/Blessing.
“We saw incredible interest for Creekside at Palmer Park. The property has been owned by Griffis/Blessing since they developed it in 2003 with a focus on high quality amenities, extensive attention to detail and large, almost 1,000-square-foot average units. There is very little product of this vintage or newer in the surrounding area, and the location offers convenient access to quality employers and abundant retail offerings. The property is in excellent condition yet well-positioned for a value-add strategy,” said Young.
“Creekside at Palmer Park is almost the perfect value-add property. It’s the right vintage, constructed in 2003, is extremely well built with good bones and amenities, and already has a proven renovation started with most of the property remaining, about 80 percent to go,” added Potarf. “It’s kind of slim pickings in the value-add department and it’s hard to find big, good value-add deals.
“It’s also a good, high price per-unit number for 15-year old product,” Potarf said of the sale of Creekside at Palmer Park for $221,037 per unit.
Creekside at Palmer Park comprises 16 rental buildings on 19.71 acres. It features a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Apartments include walk-in closets, in-unit washer and dryer, 9-foot ceilings, a balcony or patio, faux granite countertops, open floor plan and fully equipped kitchens.
Community amenities at Creekside include a clubhouse/business center, fitness center, game room swimming pool, hot tub and outdoor fire pit/lounge area. Additionally, the community is located within walking distance of a grocery-anchored retail center and a short drive to First & Main Town Center, the Colorado Springs Airport as well as downtown Colorado Springs. It is located along North Powers Boulevard/ state Highway 21, just off Space Center Drive.
Prior to the sale of Creekside at Palmer Park, Griffis/ Blessing completed renovations on approximately 20 percent of the units, including upgrades to appliances and fixtures.
Buchanan will implement a unit renovation program along with common area upgrades. Apartment renovations will include stainless steel appliances, new lighting packages, new resilient flooring and plumbing fixtures while select units will see the addition of quartz bathroom and kitchen countertops. The firm also plans to upgrades the clubhouse and other amenities, including the fitness facility, leasing office, business center, barbecue and pool areas.
Buchanan intends to hold the property for the long term.
Colorado Springs was an attractive investment market for Buchanan Street, said Kevin Hampton, multifamily executive vice president, as “increases in the region’s economic activity and population continue to favorable impact the demand for multifamily housing.”
At the time of its sale, Creekside at Palmer Park was 96 percent occupied.
Buchanan Street Partners also owns Luna Bella, a 240-unit community in Lafayette, an asset it purchased in February for $60.25 million.
