BRT’s Dropping $69M on Texas Complex

New York-based BRT Apartments is in contract to sell the Retreat at Cinco Ranch, a multifamily property in Katy, Texas, for $68.5 million. The pending sale was disclosed in BRT’s quarterly report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The buyer wasn’t disclosed in the filing. BRT expects the sale to close sometime before June 30.

The Retreat at Cinco Ranch at 3306 South Fry Road is a 268-unit apartment complex. It has one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. According to its rates on its website, rents range from $1,225 to $1,865 per month.

The complex is 10 miles from downtown Katy, a town 30 miles west of Houston. Katy has a population of 22,000 and is considered part of Greater Houston. Cinco Ranch, in turn, is a suburb in Greater Katy.

Real estate transactions involving multifamily properties with hundreds if not thousands of total residential units have become common in the Houston area, across the state and the U.S. as rising rents drive demand. Higher home prices have also made rentals the only option for many.

In December 2021, Kushner bought three multifamily properties in Houston, paying a total of $200 million for a portfolio in the Tomball, Cypress and Lake Houston submarkets. ShainRealty just picked up a Class A complex with 304 units in River Oaks as part of a multi-city Texas deal. Bascom Group recently closed on its fourth multifamily property in Houston, a 140-unit complex in the southwest part of the metro. Not to be outdone, Chicago’s 29th Street Capital has purchased 17 multifamily properties in Houston — so far.

BRT is a publicly traded real estate investment trust specializing in multifamily assets in Sun Belt locations. It has 32 properties in 11 states, including several in Texas.