The property is located just west of the Mill Avenue District and Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. The immediate area has seen major economic and infrastructure capital injections recently, most notably MarinaHeights, LibertyCenter at Rio Salado and the Phoenix Metro Light Rail. The five-building, 20 acre MarinaHeights is the largest single development in Arizona history. Upon build-out, the $600 million State-Farm Campus will have two million square feet of mixed-use development and host up to 8,000 new jobs. The Liberty Center at Rio Salado is planned for over 1 million square feet of high-performance office, flex and industrial space and will be the home of DriveTime Automotive Group's corporate headquarters. Metro Light Rail, with costs of approximately $1.4 billion for the initial 20 mile track, maintains a station less than a mile from Dolce Villagio, providing residents with easy access to the entire Phoenix Valley.

“Keeping the community intact and turning the townhomes into rentals was a choice that was largely dictated by the declining conditions of the for-sale market in 2007. Nonetheless, the North Tempe rental market has accelerated a great deal since the property was built as average rents have increased nearly 35%. The developer was able to capitalize on this and ultimately sell Dolce Villagio at a price similar to other complete class A luxury apartment community transactions in the Tempe area.” says Chang.

The purchase is the second transaction in recent months brokered by ABI Multifamily on behalf of the buyer, Western Wealth Capital, based out of Vancouver.

“The buyer was attracted to several components of the deal, including the opportunity to raise rents through renovations, the possible exit strategy of selling-off individual townhomes, and the many recent large-scale development projects in the immediate surrounding area.” states Lazovick.

Dolce Villagio was constructed with high-end townhome grade finishes, including granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, marble showers (in the master baths), tiled floors and washers/dryers. Each unit is a walk-up three story townhome with a direct access 2 car garage and a large average unit size of over 1,400 square feet. The property consists of 19 two-bedroom and 18 three-bedroom unit types, of which all include a private enclosed backyard, as well as a bonus room.

The $7 million purchase price reflects a price of $189,189 per unit and $132.97 per square foot.