La Mirage LLC, a limited liability company based in Westport, CT purchased the La Mirage Apartments, an 88-unit complex in Tempe at 610 E. Gilbert Dr. The complex is just north of the Tempe Town Lake, a two-mile long, man-made lake that sits in the normally dry bed of the Salt River and about a mile from Arizona State University, which has an enrollment of 50,000 students. The complex is about two miles east of the future site of the $335-million stadium for the Arizona Cardinals.

The sale price equates to $62,500 per unit.

The apartment in the Valley, and especially in that part of Tempe, is as healthy as it's been in years. Last year, demand easily outpaced development and the overall occupancy rate rose to 95.5%, according to a survey by M/PF Research Inc., an apartment analysis company. The overall rent increase during 2000 was 3%.

The seller of the property was La Mirage Properties Inc., a Washington, DC-based real estate investment company. The company had owned the property for more than seven years.

The Phoenix office of Marcus & Millichap, with brokers Karl Abert and Peter Katz, represented the seller, and broker Darrel Moffitt, also of Marcus & Millichap, represented the buyer.