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DALLAS-Lion Gables Apartment Fund LP, now Uptown's largest multifamily owner, has capitalized on inherited assets by selling a 422-unit State Thomas block to Rreef and the 290-unit State Thomas Ravello to Principal Financial Group. Uptown's fast-paced sales of all product type have made it hard for local brokers to keep tabs on deal sizes, but ballpark estimates are placing the combined trades above the $90-million mark.

Chicago-based Rreef got the 93%-leased State Thomas Brownstones, CityView Flats and State Thomas Townhomes, spanning nearly seven full blocks on 13.25 acres, at the heart of the priciest close-in market in the city. "In our minds, this is one of the most desirable places to live for the 25 to 35 age group," says Brad Gries, vice president in Chicago, who negotiated the purchase from a closed-end fund managed by the New York City-based ING Clarion Partners as it sheds assets from the takeover of Gables Residential Trust. In keeping with the Boca Raton, FL-based Gables' restrictions, Rreef has renamed its purchase to Manchester State Thomas.

Gries tells GlobeSt.com that the all-cash deal closed as an intended 10-year hold or more. "It's a core deal for us," he says. With some rents at below-market rates, he says the door is open for some immediate upside as well as over the long haul. "It's a stabilized long-term deal in the right location to perform long term," he stresses.