Arlington Portfolio Sale Illustrates Amazon Effect
“We listed the properties the day after Amazon announced it was locating its headquarters here. The properties were under contract within hours with two at the full price.”
ARLINGTON, VA—The recent sale of a 3-property multifamily portfolio near Crystal City has given the market a taste of what can be expected when Amazon comes to town, according to one of the brokers that closed the deal.
The portfolio, which is located about 2.5 miles from Crystal City, sold last week for $5.68 million, according to Christian Barreiro with The Zupancic Group of Marcus & Millichap. Marty Zupancic, and Nick Murray also represented the seller. Three buyers picked up the assets—one was local, one was from Florida and one was foreign-based, he tells GlobeSt.com.
“We listed the properties the day after Amazon announced it was locating its headquarters here,” he says. “The properties were under contract within hours with two at the full price.”
The seller was a locally-based LLC.
The portfolio consisted of a 16-unit building at 2000 S Second St., which traded for $2.9 million in cash; 5721 N 11th St., an eight-unit building that traded for $1.48 million; and the 7-unit 1100 N Kenilworth, which sold for $1.3 million. Each of the properties traded at a 5% cap rate.
Another interesting data point about this sale: these properties are all within the Housing Conservation District, Barreiro says. In practical terms this means building owners by right can no longer redevelop apartments into townhomes, which had been a popular exit strategy for years. “We sold these as cash flowing investments and not as redevelopment plays,” he says.
Barreiro believes that it was Amazon’s headquarters that was the main mover behind these deals. “I don’t believe the response would have been as aggressive. We closed on the properties within 60 days and two out of the three were at asking price. The third building was a very compelling all cash offer.”