A California-based real estate investment trust has purchased the 222-unit Morning Run Apartments complex in Monroe for just under $20 million.
The complex on Blueberry Lane includes 20 buildings on 11 acres, with 162 two-bedroom units, 48 three-bedroom apartments and 12 one-bedroom units.
The reported sales price of $19.75 million paid by Essex Property Trust Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., equals just under $89,000 per unit.
In June 2003, the complex was the site of a police raid in which an escaped prisoner from Pierce County was fatally wounded, dying later at a Seattle hospital.
The seller was Seattle’s Crown Capital Corp., according to county records. Gregory Laycock, a senior director at Cushman &Wakefield’s Seattle office, was the listing agent for the transaction.
Morning Run’s rents begin at $700 a month, and each unit includes vaulted ceilings, fireplaces, and washers and dryers. The apartments also have high-speed Internet access, according to Essex, which also owns four other complexes in Snohomish County.
The Puget Sound area’s high land and development costs have made it more attractive for investment firms to buy existing rental properties than to build new ones.
During the first half of the year, investors spent more than $900 million on apartment properties in the Puget Sound market, according to CB Richard Ellis. Several complexes in the Snohomish County have sold for prices above $20 million.
That trend could continue as demand for rental units grows with the population, a factor Keith Guericke, Essex’s president and chief executive officer mentioned.
“We expect to see increased rental growth as the city of Monroe continues to develop as a vital location within the greater Puget Sound market,” Guericke said in Tuesday’s announcement of the deal.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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