The seven-person team, which joined Berkadia in 2021, closed on approximately $3 billion in multifamily sales in 2022, including several trophy assets in the Houston MSA

HOUSTON – The Berkadia Houston Investment Sales team marked a record-breaking year in 2022, closing on 55 multifamily property sale transactions with a gross dollar volume of approximately $3 billion. The seven-person team consists of Senior Managing Directors Chris Curry and Todd Marix, Managing Directors Jeffrey Skipworth, Joey Rippel and Chris Young and Director Kyle Whitney. According to MSCI Real Capital Analytics, Berkadia Houston was the top performing investment sales team in the Houston metro, as ranked by multifamily deal transaction volume in 2022. 

“2022 was one of the most active years on record for the Houston MSA, even with the slowdown in transaction activity during the third and fourth quarters,” said Curry. “We think this speaks to the strength of multifamily fundamentals in Houston, the quality of assets and its cost-effectiveness relative to other markets.”

Added Marix, “Looking further into 2023, we anticipate investors will continue to wait for stability in interest rates, and a pricing reset, before resuming activity. That said, there’s still plenty of dry powder on the sidelines, the debt markets are likely to loosen up next year and multifamily continues to be a favored asset class. There will also be more opportunistic deals hitting the market in the second and third quarter.”

Other observations about the Houston market:

• Multifamily fundamentals continue to moderate, with rent growth likely in the 2 to 4 percent range this year
• A declining pipeline of new multifamily development will benefit fundamentals, supporting organic rent growth

• The outlook for the energy sector remains strong, with employment likely to grow in 2023

• Houston is forecast to see strong job-growth in 2023 according to the Greater Houston Partnership

The Berkadia Houston team arranged the following notable transactions in 2022: 

• The sale of Chelsea Museum District, a 325-unit trophy-quality multifamily high-rise in Central Houston, on behalf of Alliance Residential Company, a residential real estate developer based in Scottsdale, Arizona. 
• The sale of Lenox Clear Lake, a ­380-unit, Class A garden-style multifamily community, on behalf of the seller OHT Partners. The Praedium Group acquired the property.

• The sale of The Dawson, a 354-unit multifamily community in the Energy Corridor, West Houston’s Central Business District, on behalf of seller RPM Living.
• The contribution and finance of the Southstar Sunbelt Multifamily Portfolio, a four-property portfolio consisting of 1,115 apartment units in Texas and Florida, on behalf of Southstar Properties. MLG Capital was the buyer. 
• The sale of two workforce multifamily properties with 687 units combined in a Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) in Houston: The Alora and The Ellis. The properties were marketed on behalf of The Barvin Group and sold to Indus Management.

 Nord Group acquired the 228-unit Edgewater Apartments

Berkadia announces it has arranged the sale of Edgewater Apartments, a 228-unit, Class A garden-style multifamily apartment community located in Lake Jackson, Texas, a highly livable suburb of Houston.

Senior Managing Directors Chris Curry and Todd Marix, Managing Director Jeffrey Skipworth, Managing Directors Chris Young and Joey Rippel, and Director Kyle Whitney of Berkadia Houston, along with Director Adam Sumrall, Senior Managing Director Kelly Witherspoon, Senior Directors Justin Cole and Michael Gonzalez of Berkadia Austin represented the seller, Redwood Capital Group out of Chicago, IL. A New York-based buyer acquired the property for an undisclosed price.

“Edgewater is consistently one of the top-performing multifamily assets in Lake Jackson with limited competition. The regional economy is anchored by a healthy and expanding petrochemical industry and will drive new housing demand and strong fundamentals,” said Curry. “Edgewater will continue to perform well and drive cash flow for the new owner."  

Completed in 2005 and located at 514 That Way St., Edgewater consists of 19 two-story residential buildings and one one-story clubhouse on a 12-acre site. The pet-friendly, gated community offers one- and two-bedroom floor plans ranging from 742 square feet to 1,319 square feet. Individual units feature built-in desks and bookshelves, garden-style bathtubs, expansive walk-in closets and private patios and balconies.

Community amenities include beautifully landscaped social areas, a pool, an elegant clubhouse with a business center, picnic arbor with gas grills, an enclosed pet park with agility equipment and a fully equipped 24-hour fitness center. Reserved parking, detached garages and storage units are available.

Edgewater is located approximately 45 minutes south of Houston in Lake Jackson in Brazoria County, consistently ranked one of the best places to live in Texas, and within a short drive to two of the major petrochemical companies, Dow Chemical and BASF. Other major employers nearby include Olin, Wood, Brazos Mall and St. Luke’s Health- Brazosport Hospital.

Brick & Timber and Argosy purchased the boutique office/retail property, designed by Arquitectonica, for $62 million

Berkadia announces it has secured a $36.18 million loan for the acquisition of Cube WYNWD, a boutique Class-A building in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood. Managing Director Scott Wadler of Berkadia Miami secured the financing on behalf of the joint venture between Brick & Timber, a San Francisco-based developer and real estate asset manager, and Argosy Capital Partners, an investment advisory firm based in Philadelphia, PA.

This is the second time in 20 months the property has traded and been capitalized by Berkadia. The Berkadia team also lined up $27.5 million in senior and mezzanine financing when Tricera Capital and LNDMARK acquired the property in April of 2021.

Since the original acquisition, Tricera and LNDMRK leased up the entire building including major tenants such as Schonfeld Strategic Advisors and Shaolin Capital.

JP Morgan provided the balance sheet $36.2 million five-year fixed-rate loan with full term interest only.

“The Wynwood submarket has evolved into an established, dynamic submarket with rents more than doubling in the last 5 years. It has been exciting to play a small part of the transformation of Wynwood and watch it grow from an industrial pocket to a thriving neighborhood with true live-work-play offerings and tenant diversification,” said Wadler.

Located at 230 Northwest 24^th Street and completed in 2019, Cube WYND was designed by Arquitectonica, and it is the first-ever boutique office-over-retail building in Wynwood, with 10,000 square feet of retail space and 90,000 square feet of office space. It is steps away from art galleries, restaurants, breweries and retail shops and centrally located to all of Miami's best submarkets including Downtown Miami, Edgewater, the Miami Design District and Miami Beach. 

Public officials and members of the building, design and financing team, celebrated the launch of the 237-unit community in the heart of Allapattah

Neology Development, led by Lissette Calderon, announces it has begun construction on its third, lifestyle-driven residential community in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood. The $70 million “Fourteen Allapattah Residences” will deliver 237 apartments, along with 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, to one of Miami’s most dynamic emerging neighborhoods. The property, which will open in early 2024, enjoys a highly visible location on NW 36th Street just 5 minutes west of Wynwood and 10 minutes east of the Miami International Airport, within a federally designated Opportunity Zone.

The ceremony included remarks from public officials, including Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Robert Behar of Behar Font Architects, Abel Ramirez of Jaxi Builders, Jared Mintz of AOZA Fund, Jeff Rosenfeld from Churchill Real Estate and Ralph Calderon of Neology Development.

“Allapattah continues to be a place that welcomes people from all walks of life and economic backgrounds, and we are honored that it has embraced Neology as well,” said Calderon. “We owe a big thank you to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla and Commissioner Keon Hardemon, and their wonderful teams; to Churchill Capital for backing our vision with financing; and to the brilliant building and design team that has helped us achieve unprecedented quality over many years. Lastly, a big thank you to my partners, my former Wharton Professor and mentor Peter Linneman, along with his team of Jared Mintz and Kelley Brasfield of AOZA Fund

Neology, founded by Calderon 20 years ago with the launch of her first condo project on Miami River, now has a portfolio now consists of more than 1,500 apartment units completed or under construction in Miami’s urban core, including The Julia, an upscale apartment community that will open in 2023, and Neology’s flagship Allapattah project, No. 17 Residences Allapattah, which opened in 2021 and leased up in record time.

Fourteen Allapattah Residences will consist of a 14-story building with 180 apartment units connected via a pool deck to a five-story building with 57 apartments including ground floor walk-ups. It will offer studio, one- and two-bedroom units ranging from 450 to 1,000 square feet. Apartments will feature European-inspired cabinetry, quartz countertops, energy-efficient kitchen appliances, in-unit washers and dryers, energy-efficient AC and heating systems, and smart home technology adaptors. Lifestyle amenities will include curated original artwork, a multipurpose lobby, media lounges, living rooms, a rooftop pool and clubhouse, poolside cabanas, coworking spaces, conference rooms, an outdoor movie screen, an indoor and outdoor fitness and wellness center, with a yoga and cardio studio, dog park with dog wash area, bike storage, virtual concierge and smart package lockers, and a parking garage with electric car charging stations as well as a ride share lobby.

The contractor for Fourteen Allapattah Residences is JAXI Builders, Inc.; the architect is Behar Font Architects; the interior design is by designBAR; and Witkin Hultz Design is the landscape architect and GT Law provided legal counsel. Bilzin Sumberg Law’s Suzanne Amaducci-Adams and Manny Gonzalez led the transaction on behalf of the borrower.

The $77M Montage at Marquis Apartments will deliver 265 apartments to the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News metropolitan area

Berkadia announces it has sourced a joint venture equity partner for GW Real Estate Partners, a vertically integrated multifamily development and construction firm, to build a new Class A apartment community in Williamsburg, Va. Construction has already commenced on the $77 million, 265-unit garden-style “Montage at Marquis Apartments,” which is slated for delivery in May 2024.

Cody Kirkpatrick, Noam Franklin, and Chinmay Bhatt of Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital secured the equity partner, a fund manager, which provided $27.7 million in equity behind $48.06 million in senior debt issued by Citizens Bank.

Based in Charlottsville, Va., GW Real Estate Partners is a vertically integrated multifamily development and construction firm focused on select Mid-Atlantic and Southeast markets with strong supply and demand fundamentals. A second-generation real estate enterprise, GW Real Estate Partners and its related affiliates have been active investors in the multifamily sector since the late 1980s. The principals have collectively acquired or developed more than 11,000 units totaling $2.4 billion in property value.

“We were excited to work with the team at GW Real Estate Partners on their first development in Williamsburg, and after touring with them, felt confident in the need for new multifamily product in this market on account of many compelling demand drivers,” said Kirkpatrick.

“We pride ourselves on finding the right equity partners for developers and identified a capital source that had the same vision and goals for this project,” said Franklin.

“Montage at Marquis Apartments marks GW Real Estate Partners’ first ground-up multifamily development in the Williamsburg/Hampton Roads/Newport News MSA,” said Robert Gordon, a GWREP principal. “This submarket in particular benefits from a diversified and growing population and economy, with limited new supply and high barriers to entry, which places it squarely within our wheelhouse. Thanks to the Berkadia team, we have a capital partner whose vision aligns with ours. We’re also grateful to long-term design partners, Heffner Architects P.C. and civil engineering firm Timmons Group, for their role in this project.”

Located at 1200 Marquis Parkway, Montage at Marquis Apartments will be a Class A, four-story, elevatored and conditioned-corridor property offering best-in-class community amenities and surface parking. It will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom units averaging 942 square feet. The property is located less than 10 minutes from downtown Williamsburg and the College of William and Mary, 20 minutes from Newport News, and proximate to a variety of employers including nearby military bases.

GW Builders, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GW Real Estate Partners, is the general contractor.

Berkadia announces it has secured a $27.69 million loan for the acquisition of 161 out of 248 units at Harbourtowne at Country Woods, a fractured condominium community in Palm Harbor, Florida. Senior Managing Director Charles Foschini and Managing Director Christopher Apone of Berkadia Miami arranged the financing on behalf of the buyer, ESG Kullen.

A regional bank provided the five-year loan at a highly competitive spread that included three-years of interest only and future funding for additional unit purchases and CapEx renovations.

“ESG Kullen was able to capitalize on their successful track record in the fractured condo space and identify a highly desirable fractured condo community in a high growth market, with a significant asset level of upside opportunities,” said Apone. “Their long-term experience in this asset space, and the Florida markets, provided an array of debt options with a bank execution that offered the best combination of flexibility and leverage, while also bringing a highly competitive interest rate versus traditional debt fund lenders.”

Located at 1697 Nantucket Court, Harbourtowne at Country Woods offers one-, two- and three-bedroom units that average from 675 to 1,300 square feet. Individual amenities feature all-electric kitchens, ceiling fans, central air and heating, a pantry, walk-in closets, washer and dryers or connections and wood burning fireplaces. Community amenities include a swimming pool, spa, fitness center, tennis court, racquetball court, a picnic area with barbecue, a clubhouse, guest parking and on-call maintenance.

Harbourtown at Country Woods is nestled between St. Petersburg and Tampa and offers easy access to County Road 1, close to the Gulf of Mexico beaches, The Caladesi Island State Park, the Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club, the Fred Marquis Pinellas trail, Pop Stansell Park and it is 30 minutes away from the Tampa International Airport.