A national property firm has purchased the 389-unit Jefferson at Mill Creek apartment complex for more than $51 million, making it one of the county’s largest such transactions.
Chicago-based Equity Residential bought the 4-year-old development at 14420 North Creek Drive, just west of the Bothell-Everett Highway and north of Mill Creek’s new Town Center development.
The seller was JPI, the Irving, Texas, company that built the apartments.
The deal closed Thursday, May 27, with the purchase price nearly $51.4 million, according to the deed filed with Snohomish County. The assessed value of the property and its structures exceeds $31.6 million, according to the County Assessor’s Office.
Equity Residential, a publicly traded company that owns more than 950 properties in 34 states, said the Mill Creek complex adds to its already significant holdings in Snohomish County.
“We consider Seattle one of our core markets, and we’re always looking for more opportunities there,” said Marty McKenna, an Equity spokesman. He said the company owns more than 10,000 apartment units in the Puget Sound region.
Jefferson, called an estates apartment community by its developer, features floor plans ranging from one-bedroom units with 627 square feet to three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath units with 1,550 square feet. The rents begin at $835 a month and top out at more than $1,800. Amenities include high-speed Internet access, garages and nature trails. In addition to a central clubhouse and pools, the Jefferson has a small movie theater.
The purchase price Equity paid for the 40-acre development equals more than $132,000 per apartment unit.
“That may set a new bar for Snohomish County,” said Tom Hoban, chief executive officer at Everett-based Coast Real Estate Services.
That’s not surprising, Hoban said, when considering that Jefferson at Mill Creek was built to compete with the high-end apartment complexes common in Bellevue, Redmond and other closer-in suburbs of Seattle.
With an improving rental market and the optimism generated by the Boeing Co.’s decision to assemble the 7E7 in Everett, apartment developments are attractive, Hoban said. That’s especially the case with large institutional investment firms that specialize in big complexes.
The Mill Creek development is one of several local complexes to sell for $20 million or more since last fall. All of the developments have had at least 200 units.
“The reason (these sales) look big on the radar screen, is they were built big,” Hoban said.
Eric Fetters is a reporter with The Herald in Everett.
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