This transaction was not only huge for Richmond, Hetherington said, but It also is indicative of a larger trend playing out throughout the nation -- that is, of investors moving into tier two cities for product.

There were national and even international buyers interested in the portfolio, Hetherington said, including a European private equity fund. “We had 20 LOIs that were within 1% and 2% of each other,” he said.

This is not the first time Richmond has attracted interest from national and international investors, of course. There has been a flow of money into the market by investors seeking out attractively-priced product (compared to the tier one markets) and in the case of international investors, seeking that proverbial safe harbor.

RICHMOND-This market has closed one of the biggest multifamily portfolio sales of the year, according to Colliers International's Jason Hetherington, one of the brokers who worked on the transaction. That would be the $81 million trade of three properties in Richmond: Champions Club, Park West End and Hickory Creek.

Hetherington, along with colleagues Will Mathews, Bruce Milam and Jackie Noel represented the seller CORE Realty Holdings Management, a tenant-in-common that had held onto the properties for the life of the loan and then sold them as the debt matured. In short, the buildings represented a rare value-add play in this high-barrier-to-entry market for new development, Hetherington said. “It was a great opportunity to do some value add to get a substantial rent increase,” he told GlobeSt.com.

There were two buyers in the deal. Richmond-based McCann Realty Partners purchased Hickory Creek, which consists of 294 units, while Irvine, California-headquartered MDO Capital purchased Champions Club and Park West End Apartments, totaling 524 units.

A Second Tier Market

This transaction was not only huge for Richmond, Hetherington said, but It also is indicative of a larger trend playing out throughout the nation -- that is, of investors moving into tier two cities for product.

There were national and even international buyers interested in the portfolio, Hetherington said, including a European private equity fund. “We had 20 LOIs that were within 1% and 2% of each other,” he said.

This is not the first time Richmond has attracted interest from national and international investors, of course. There has been a flow of money into the market by investors seeking out attractively-priced product (compared to the tier one markets) and in the case of international investors, seeking that proverbial safe harbor.