Texan West Campus apartments sold to

Chicago company

Austin Business Journal - 1:16 PM CST Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Texan West Campus, one of the first apartment projects developed under the University Neighborhood Overlay, has been sold to Chicago-based Campus Acquisitions LLC.

The 62-unit property at 2616 Salado St. was sold by its developer, Austin-based Texan Properties, for an undisclosed price. The property is valued at $15.1 million according to Travis County appraisal roles.

Patton Jones with Apartment Realty Advisors represented the seller.

"We communicated the benefits of the high-density construction in West Campus to our network of buyers," says Jones.

The quality of the asset and its location five blocks from campus helped generate multiple offers, he says.

In September 2004, the city of Austin passed the University Neighborhood Overlay, an ordinance granting varying building heights to the area where height restrictions had previously been a barrier to development. Subsequent to the development of Texan West Campus, a number of projects have been built in the area under the new higher-density guidelines. Last summer Texan Properties completed construction on the 74-unit Texan Tower and began work on its latest project, the 98-unit Texan Shoal Creek.

Campus Acquisitions focuses solely on investment in education-related real estate including student housing. To date, the company has acquired more than 1,500 apartment units.