Located at 720 W. O'Neil Dr., the class A, garden-style community is the first acquisition the firm has made in Casa Grande, although it has been actively seeking opportunities in Tucson and Phoenix markets, according to Omar Mireles, executive vice president of HSL Properties.

Mireles tells GlobeSt. that while Casa Grande is a tertiary market, HSL Properties believes it is an area that will experience very significant growth in the long term. Moreover, Desert Sands Apartments currently is underperforming the market's average occupancy by more than 10 percent, reporting an occupancy rate of 74 percent at purchase time despite its positioning as one of the top two apartment communities in the market.

"We have a great opportunity to vastly improve the property's performance in a relatively quick timeframe," Mireles says. "The property is a newly constructed, high-quality apartment community that we were able to acquire well below replacement value."