NYC investor pays $215.3 million for Ramblewood, Woodlake apartment complexes

NYC investor pays $215.3 million for Ramblewood, Woodlake apartment complexes

 

A New York City investment firm has scooped up two apartment complexes southwest of Grand Rapids in a series of deals totaling more than $215.3 million, MiBiz has learned.

Property records indicate Torchlight Investors is the new owner of Ramblewood Apartments off 44th Street in Grandville and the nearby Woodlake Apartments on Byron Center Avenue in Wyoming.  

“We are excited about this acquisition as we believe it is well-positioned to benefit from sought-after suburban communities with a well-designed capital improvement plan,” Henry Gom, senior vice president of Torchlight Investors, said in a statement.

Torchlight affiliates bought the two complexes from entities tied to Atlanta-based Cocke Finkelstein Inc., which owned them for three years. The transaction included 1,710 apartments as well as a tennis and health facility.

As MiBiz previously reported, Cocke Finkelstein bought Ramblewood for $100.8 million in 2015.

Dallas-based HFF LP listed both properties for sale starting in May 2018.

According to a statement at the time of the listing, Woodlake was 97-percent occupied, while Ramblewood’s occupancy stood at 94 percent.

“Current ownership has successfully deployed renovation programs at each of the properties, achieving average rent premiums after renovations of $175 to $195 and an average return on cost greater than 25 percent,” according to HFF, which noted that renovations had been completed at 15 percent of units at Woodlake and 3 percent of units at Ramblewood.

Upgrades under Cocke Finkelstein included stainless steel appliances as well as new countertops,  cabinets, flooring and interior doors, among others.

The Detroit office of Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC secured $108.3 million in 12-year, fixed-rate financing from Fannie Mae on behalf of Torchlight. The property deals closed on Oct. 17.

As valuations remain high and cap rates for similarly aligned multifamily properties keep inching up, the market sector has been in a “feeding frenzy,” according to a broker familiar with the deal.

Multiple requests for comment to Cocke Finkelstein and Torchlight were not returned as this story went to press.