Equity Residential (EQR), the largest fully integrated publicly traded multi-family real estate investment trust( REIT) in the U.S., has recently sold Crosswinds Apartment Homes – an apartment community in St. Petersburg, Florida, for $13.1 million. The property was sold to Covenant Capital Group LLC – a real estate private equity firm primarily focusing on the value-added acquisition and redevelopment of apartment communities.
Spanning 18.5 acres, Crosswinds Apartment Homes include 208 apartment units and are located in close proximity to the St. Petersburg International Airport. The 24-year old property features 13 two-storeyed garden-style buildings with tranquil lakes and fountains.
Equity Residential’s properties are divided into three categories: garden, mid-rise/high-rise and ranch-type. Garden-style properties consist of two or three floors. Mid-rise/high-rise properties are more than three floors high, while ranch properties are single-storied. The garden-style and mid-rise/high-rise apartments typically feature amenities like clubhouses, swimming pools and laundry facilities.
Crosswinds Apartment Homes include several amenities such as two laundry facilities, swimming pool, separate spa area, private Jacuzzi, tennis courts and clubhouse with fitness facility and business center. The property is also widely recognized as a pet-friendly community and features an onsite dog park.
The asset sale is a part of the long-term strategy of Equity Residential to own high quality assets in some of the best long-term apartment markets in the country. The company is repositioning its portfolio to focus on high-barrier markets that have better job and rent growth prospects. This provides an upside potential for the company as multi-family fundamentals had comparatively held up even during the most recent economic downturn.
Furthermore, Equity Residential has a fully implemented state-of-the-art operating platform that enables it to manage the operations on a real-time basis and deliver a market-leading performance. We maintain our long-term ‘Neutral’ recommendation on Equity Residential, which currently has a Zacks #3 Rank that translates into a short-term ‘Hold’ rating. We also have a Neutral recommendation and a Zacks #3 Rank for UDR, Inc. (UDR), a competitor of Equity Residential.
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