CORTLAND PARTNERS STRIKES AGAIN . . . PAYS $62 MILLION FOR 384 APARTMENTS IN MESA

Photo Credit: Cushman & Wakefield

Mesa – One year after the company made its first Valley multi-family investment in Glendale, Cortland Partners in Atlanta, Ga. (Steven DeFrancis, CEO) has expanded its reach to the other side of town by paying $62 million ($161,458 per unit) to purchase  The District at Mountain Vista, a 384-unit apartment community located in Mesa. Kaplan Mountain Vista Apartments LP., a limited partnership formed by Kaplan Development LLC in Houston, Tex. (Michael Kaplan, Geoff Simpson, principals) and Westplan Investors in Atlanta, Ga. (Ewoud Swaak, CEO), was the seller. The transaction  was brokered through Dave Fogler and Steve Nicoluzakis of Cushman & Wakefield in Phoenix and Brett Polachek, formerly of C&W, and now with ARA Newmark in Phoenix. Maricopa County records show South 105^th AZ Partners LLC (Cortland entity) acquired the asset with a $40.3 million loan from W&D Interim Lender LLC, formed by Walker & Dunlop LLC in Bethesda, Md. In April 2008, BREW reported a venture formed by Kaplan Development paying $8.555 + million to buy the 19.6-acre site and planning to develop the Mesa complex. Located west of Signal Butte Road and south of Southern Avenue at 1304 S. 105^th Place, the community was completed in 2009. Records show the primary owner in the recent sale was Westplan Preferred Equity Fund Management GP LLC, formed by Westplan Investors. With the acquisition, the privately-held Cortland Partners now owns 796 apartments in two multi-family assets in the Valley. One year-ago, BREW reported the company entering the Phoenix market by paying $60.545 million ($146,954 per unit) to purchase the 412-unit Arrowhead Summit apartments at 18330 N. 79^th Avenue in Glendale. Cortland Communities owns and operates more than 45,000 apartment units in 138 properties spread across 11 states. The company, owners of both conventional and senior housing projects, is looking to buy more apartments in the Phoenix area, as well as other select markets in the U.S. Since its inception in 1995, Westplan Investors has invested $2 billion in real estate, primarily in the multi-family sector. Over the past 20 years, BREW has reported Kaplan developing 611 apartments in two Valley projects, and planning another 962 units in three other Phoenix-area communities. Find out more from Cortland Partners chief investment officer Mike Altman at (404) 591-3587. Talk to Jerry Davis of Kaplan Development’s southwest region at (949) 230-6681. Reach Swaak of Westplan Investors at (770) 390-9378. Contact Fogler and Nicoluzakis at (602) 954-9000. Call Polachek at (602) 952-3833.