Mill Creek, AEW JV Acquires 352-Unit Lakewood Garden Community

By Amalia Otet, Associate Editor

Mill Creek Residential and its joint venture partner AEW Capital Management L.P. have completed the acquisition of Lakewood on the Trail, a 352-unit garden-style community in the highly sought-after Lakewood area of Dallas.

Mill Creek has purchased more than 2,000 apartment homes across the country since 2012, as part of the company’s “buy where we build” strategy. AEW, headquartered in Boston, acquired the property on behalf of one of its institutional clients.

“Mill Creek’s acquisition philosophy is to acquire high-quality communities with redevelopment potential in irreplaceable locations in markets where we’re actively developing new communities,” said Wes Dickerson, managing director of acquisitions, in a statement for the press. “Lakewood on the Trail is an ideal reflection of this strategy, and will soon have a sister community in Avenue H Apartments, a new Mill Creek community under development in Dallas’s Knox neighborhood that will deliver in the summer of 2014.”

The newly acquired multi-family property is located at 101 N. Brookside Drive, on the Santa Fe/White Rock Lake Trail, just minutes away from Downtown Dallas. It also enjoys close proximity to Lakewood Country Club, one of the city’s premier golfing destinations; the Lakewood Village Shopping Center; and White Rock Lake. And it provides easy access to Interstate-30 and the Central Expressway (US-75).

Lakewood on the Trail offers a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartment homes, complemented by amenities such as a fitness center, a clubhouse, three pools and spas, an outdoor kitchen and covered parking. Interiors feature crown molding, designer paint, individual washer and dryer units and vaulted ceilings.

The new ownership plans to add value by enhancing community amenities and implementing several unit upgrades, including granite counters, custom cabinetry and wood plank flooring.

With 14 offices across the United States, Mill Creek is expanding its footprint in many of the nation’s top-performing apartment markets, including Seattle, the San Francisco Bay area, Atlanta, South Florida, Austin, Houston, Washington, D.C., New York and Boston. Currently, the company’s portfolio comprises 29 communities representing nearly 13,000 apartment homes that are operating, under construction or in planning.

AEW is one of the world’s leading real estate investment advisors. It and its affiliates manage more than $37 billion worth of capital invested in $50.8 billion in property and securities in North America, Europe and Asia.

Photo credit: Mill Creek Residential official website