Texas apartment portfolio shopped

Real Estate Alert, April 28, 2004

An investment group is seeking $125 million for eight apartment complexes in Texas.

The portfolio consists of 1,784 units in the Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston metropolitan areas. At the asking price of $70,000/unit, the buyer's initial annual yield would be 7.2%.

The owner, New York-based Merit Acquisitions, is shopping the properties as a portfolio, but will consider bids on individual complexes. Marcus & Millichap has the listing.

The properties, which were built from 1997 to 2002, are:

* Park Lakes Apartments at 9955 Buffalo Speedway in Houston. Units: 320. Asking price: $23.3 million.

* Haverhill Apartments at 6889 Hightower Drive in the Fort Worth suburb of North Richland Hills. Units: 302. Asking price: $19 million.

* Village of Briar Forest at 14504 Briar Forest in Houston. Units: 240. Asking price: $18 million.

* Legends at the Lake at 923 Yellow Jacket in the Dallas suburb of Rockwall. Units: 224. Asking price: $17.2 million.

* Mesquite Apartments at 801 Highway 30 in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite. Units: 220. Asking price: $15.8 million.

* Villages at Fossil Creek at 6700 Sandshell Boulevard in Fort Worth. Units: 202. Asking price: $14.5 million.

* Villages of Lake Jackson at 504 Highway 332 West in Lake Jackson, about an hour south of Houston. Units: 174. Asking price: $11.8 million.

* Brazos Park (102 units) at 2008 Terlingua in the Dallas suburb of Arlington. Units: 102. Asking price: $5.4 million.

Merit, which was founded three years ago, is headed by David Shweky and Mark Krugman. The company, which manages partnerships backed by a network of private investors, focuses on core-plus Sunbelt apartment properties built in the past decade.

Its goal is to add value to the properties through improved management.

For more information, call Norman Eastwood of Marcus & Millichap at 972-980-4800.