CIM Group Offloads Uptown Dallas Apartments

CIM Group has cashed out on a multifamily family investment in Uptown Dallas, one of the city’s hottest neighborhoods.

The Los Angeles-based firm sold Lennox at West Village, a 159-unit complex at 3700 Cole Avenue, in an all-cash deal to an undisclosed local investor described as a high-net-worth individual who owns other apartment properties in North Texas, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Northmarq brokers Eric Stockley, Taylor Snoddy and Charles Hubbard handled the sale, for which the financial terms were not disclosed. The property is valued at $39 million for tax purposes.

CIM Group had owned the complex, which sits atop retail space, since 2013. Stockley called the property “paramount to that Uptown submarket.”

The buyer plans to renovate the site extensively, with hopes of elevating it to the level of neighboring apartment properties and attracting higher-spending renters. Stockley noted that the large floor plans make it conducive for attracting high-end tenants. The planned upgrades are expected to benefit the ground-level retailers as well.

Part of the complex has a condominium-style arrangement, Nineteen residences are owned, which made the transaction more nuanced, Stockley said,

The retail portion of the building and parking garage are owned by an entity linked to Dallas-based Phoenix Property Company.

CIM Group’s Dallas portfolio includes the Offices at Turtle Creek Village, Shops at Turtle Creek Village and the Epic II office tower in Deep Ellum.

Uptown Dallas has attracted a swarm of developers in recent years, yielding an array of office, multifamily and mixed-use projects. Among planned residential projects are Alamo Manhattan’s $130 million apartment tower and Houston-based Hines’ $150 million apartment tower, marking its second residential high-rise in the area.

Robust development in Dallas-Fort Worth over the past few years has led to a slight oversupply and declining rent prices, but rent and occupancy are expected to set records by early next year, according to Colliers. Occupancy sat at just under 93 percent in the first quarter, and demand is highest for Class A properties. While the Uptown/Park Cities submarket had the highest asking rents in the first quarter, the average is under $2,500.

—Quinn Donoghue