Ellie Apartments, a 344-unit complex near the Oracle Corp. headquarters in East Austin, has been purchased after a five-year, multimillion-dollar renovation.
Origin Investments, in a partnership with F&B Capital, spearheaded the makeover and was the seller. The buyer was identified as Los Angeles-based TruAmerica Multifamily, along with its equity partner American Realty Advisors, a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate investment manager.
It was TruAmerica Multifamily’s first acquisition in Austin. The company has hired Roscoe Property Management to manage the community.
Ellie Apartments, formerly known as Mission Hills Apartments, was built in 2001 with a mix of one- and two-bedroom units. Also on site are a clubhouse, a fitness center, an outdoor pool and a dog park.
The apartment complex is located in a fast-growing part of town off East Riverside Drive. Presidium and Partners Group plan to build a 109-acre mixed-use project at 4700 East Riverside Drive in the coming years.
Origin Investments and F&B Capital acquired the garden-style apartment complex in March 2016 and began the renovations. Upgrades were made to the clubhouse, fitness center, pool area and nearly 85% of the units.
"It’s a challenge for value-add multifamily real estate owners to make an appropriate level of improvements that translate into higher occupancies and rents while not eliminating a property’s appeal to a future pool of buyers," Marc Turner, a managing director at Origin, said in a statement. "We were able to do this successfully with Ellie Apartments."
Ellie Apartments was to be sold to a different buyer in March 2020, but the deal was terminated just before it was set to close. The transaction was canceled at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The transaction just completed with the private institutional investor was also challenged nearly one year later, with the Texas winter storm in February. The parties closed the deal at the end of March, however.
Newmark Vice Chairman Patton Jones represented the seller. Ellie Apartments was 94% occupied at the time of the sale.
Newmark also brokered the 2016 purchase of the apartments by Origin and F&B Capital.