$42M in Apartment Transaction for South Carolina

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

South Carolina’s apartment market saw two significant purchases recently. The acquisitions of The Reserve at Riverwalk in Columbia and Woodfield St. James in suburban Charleston, part of separate deals, totaled 464 units worth a combined $42.2 million in traded apartment assets, stirring up the state’s Class A multifamily market.

Located in the Charleston suburb of Goose Creek, the 244-unit Woodfield St. James was recently acquired by Florida-based Trade Street Residential Inc. (TSRE), a fully integrated owner and operator of apartment assets.

The company paid $27.2 million for the Class A garden-style community that features amenities such as a movie theater, business center, fitness center, resort style pool, clubroom, outdoor kitchen/grill/ television, fire pit and billiards. Individual units feature a fully equipped gourmet kitchen, walk-in closet, balcony/patios, and rent at an average monthly rate of $901. The community is currently 98 percent occupied.

Designed by Housing Studio, the apartment complex was finished in 2009, with C.F. Evans Construction as the main contractor. TSRE is currently arranging mortgage financing on the property, with a $19 million lender commitment already in place featuring a 10-year first mortgage at a 3.75 percent fixed rate. This will be followed by two years of interest payments, then principal and interest payments based on a 30-year amortization schedule.

TSRE also bought the 256-unit Woodfield Creekstone apartment complex, a newly built project in Durham, N.C. partially funding both acquisitions with proceeds from its recently completed public equity offering.

Multifamily REIT Landmark Apartment Trust of America (LATA) also made subsequent acquisitions in South and North Carolina, picking up the 220-unit Reserve at River Walk apartment complex in Columbia, S.C. and 380-unit Victoria Park in Charlotte, N.C. (Read more Victoria Park’s purchase here).

Although set to go through some repositioning renovation, The Reserve at River Walk—now Landmark at Reserve at Riverwalk—already features attractive amenities such as a swimming pool, fitness center, tennis court, picnic area, car wash, resident activities program and generous landscaping. Comprising one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, the community is located close to several medical and shopping centers, as well as public parks. LATA purchased the asset for $15 million.

Image courtesy of the Woodfield St. James Facebook page