In 2016, Interwest partnered with an institutional investor and a local operator to acquire a portfolio of assets comprising two multifamily properties—Gloria Park Villas & Tower at Tropicana, featuring 500 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments nestled in the hub of Las Vegas, and an office/retail property in Phoenix. Our interest was in the apartment communities because of their prime location near the University of Nevada – Las Vegas, where vacancies tend to get filled quickly.
OPPORTUNITY
The seller was a foreign entity, without key real estate operations, who was seeking to exit all of its US holdings. After owning the assets for over 20 years, the seller insisted on packaging the properties as a whole. We negotiated the advantageous purchase of the entire portfolio, selling the office/retail component within six months of acquisition and leaving ownership with the two Gloria Park properties.
Though both properties were in a stable market and condition, prior ownership’s conservative management approach prioritized high occupancy with little regard for increasing rents. The acquisition was presented as an offmarket opportunity, which we consummated in November 2016 at a price of $83,000 per unit—far below the market average for this type of product.
