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MARLBOROUGH, MA-A 274-unit luxury apartment complex in this suburb west of Boston is among four multifamily assets sold by Rreef America, with Steven D. Bell & Co. paying $45.5 million to acquire the five-year-old Jefferson at Wheeler Hill. Based in Greensboro, NC, the real estate investment firm is making its first foray into New England via the purchase, which also includes assets in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Texas. An exact price on the portfolio was unavailable, but it is said by one source to be "well in excess" of $100 million.

Besides the Marlborough development, Bell also bought Brookview at Elkins Park in suburban Philadelphia, which has 217 units; the 504-unit Residences at Morgan Falls in Atlanta; and Villa Miranda in Dallas, the largest of the four communities at 590 units. The newest is the 56-acre Jefferson at Wheeler Hill, one of several Massachusetts multifamily projects built by JPI Texas Development this decade. That firm, which has typically sold the properties after completion, traded the Marlborough project to Rreef in 2003 for $45.7 million. Earlier this year, Rreef acquired another JPI complex in Dedham, MA.

JPI's management arm runs Wheeler Hill as part of a 59-property contract struck last year to operate Rreef apartments nationwide. Steven D. Bell & Co. principal Jon Bell tells GlobeSt.com that his firm will manage the properties acquired, all of which were heretofore operated by JPI. Bell says his firm will likely re-name the communities bearing the Jefferson brand.