"I think Equity sees it as an irreplaceable location," Chuck Sweeney, a broker with the Denver office Hendricks & Partners told GlobeSt.com. "It's a pretty high price per sf and I'm sure it's a very aggressive cap rate. Equity Residential owns the 216-unit Crescent, around the corner, so the Legacy is probably worth more to them than another buyer."Equity had paid $14.6 million, or $67,600 per unit, in 1997 for the Crescent, which had been built in 1993, according to Sweeney.

The buy is further sweetened because the Legacy Cherry Creek project is located near Cherry Creek trail and Cherry Creek shopping center. The complex is unusual in that half of it sits in Denver and the other half in the tiny community of Glendale.

Sweeney, who did not participate in the latest deal, but follows the apartment market closely, also point out that Equity Residential had supplied the equity financing for Legacy's 476-unit project called the Legacy at Parkfield near the Denver International Airport. "All of the stars were in alignment in this deal," Sweeney told GlobeSt.com.