Both Carroll and Champion acknowledge that finding multifamily assets to fit the company's strategy – especially in the Houston metro region – is becoming more challenging. Carroll notes that his company continues "to turn over stones to find good deal flow, while keeping to our strategy." Champion, in the meantime, points to Carroll Organization's track record as its key to getting deals done. Locally, in 2013, Carroll Organization acquired

CYPRESS, TX-Carroll Organization has closed on its ninth transaction in the region, acquiring the 366-unit Lakeview Lofts from the multifamily property's builder, TLMF 1 LP. The Atlanta company's Houston-area portfolio is valued at more than $325 million.

Though the multifamily property at 17807 Lakecrest View Dr. on the far northwest side was brokered by Apartment Realty Advisors, executives with the Carroll Organization tell GlobeSt.com that they had reached out to the owners – a partnership between the Caldwell Building Co. and Gregg Williams – at the beginning of 2013. "Then ARA ended up listing the property for sale," says Josh Champion, Carroll's president of investments. Champion says the deal brought Carroll Organization new product (it opened in 2010) and top-of-the-market amenities for below-replacement costs and at an attractive cap rate.

Neither cap rate or sale price was mentioned. The Harris Central Appraisal District assessed the multifamily property at $32 million.

Lakeview Lofts is 93% occupied. Champion and M. Pat Carroll, the organization's CEO, say that the only changes that will be made to the property is rebranding under the ARIUM name and a little bit of landscaping. "The play here is that it's in the Towne Lake master-planned community," Carroll says. "Right across the street, a Kroger-anchored center is going in. A bank's already there, as is a McDonald's, and a marina is going in on the lake. We're betting on this area's future growth."

Both Carroll and Champion acknowledge that finding multifamily assets to fit the company's strategy – especially in the Houston metro region – is becoming more challenging. Carroll notes that his company continues "to turn over stones to find good deal flow, while keeping to our strategy." Champion, in the meantime, points to Carroll Organization's track record as its key to getting deals done. Locally, during 2013, Carroll Organization acquired Limestone Ranch (also in the northwest submarket) and Waterford on Westheimer and Villas at Westheimer in the Energy Corridor. All three properties have been repositioned under the ARIUM brand name.

And those are just the local deals. "We bought a billion dollars worth of property in 18 months," Champion explains. "Most of the time, we don't have to be the highest bidder. Sellers know we can close."