HOUSTON-In their first buy as partners, Praedium Group and Carroll Organization acquired the 302-unit Carrington at Green Trails from Davis Developer, which completed the class A complex in 2009. With the dust having settled on the CRE deal, the new owners will change the name to Carroll at Green Trails and plan small improvements to the asset, which was 95% occupied at closing.

The real value add of the multifamily property at 529 Barker-Clodine Rd. in the far west submarket is the potential for increasing the rents. “What I find in a lot of these newer deals that went through lease-up in 2009 and 2010 is that this happened when the economy wasn’t as strong,” comments Mark Lippman, managing director of the New York City-based Praedium Group. “The Houston market has been strong, so with some amenity improvement and value-add by putting granite and new light fixtures in the unit, we can push rents.”

Lippman tells GlobeSt.com that the Praedium/Carroll Organization JV was able to strike a deal directly with the seller, though the property had been on the market with third-party representation as early as spring of 2010. He says the partners are looking at other deals as well, with a couple of potential purchase located in Houston. The sweet spot for The $900 million Praedium Fund VII LP, the $900 million equity fund that acquired Carroll at Green Trails and is identifying other likely assets for purchase include product in the $20 million and above range, that has a good ability to generate cash flow in the near term and that was built in the mid-1990s or later.