SPI Advisory buys apartment complex in Hutto

Texas private equity firm SPI Advisory has nabbed on a newly-built 336-unit apartment complex in Hutto, North of Austin.

SPI acquired the complex, called Skyview North, from Alliance Residential Oct. 14 six months after it hit the market, according to a release. It is the company’s sixth acquisition in the Austin metro area.

The complex at 295 County Road 138 offers one- and two-bedroom floor plans and has a fitness center and pool. The multifamily complex opened earlier this year near North Austin’s growing technology district that includes major facilities owned by Samsung, Amazon, Tesla, Apple, Google and Facebook.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the property was appraised for $57M, according to the Williamson County Appraisal District. The appraised value comes to around $169,642 per unit.

Michael Becker, principal of SPI Advisory, said his firm was able to acquire the property for a lower price than it was originally on the market for.

“What we liked about it was, first and foremost, it’s newly constructed so obviously it’s this shiny, brand new thing,” Becker said. “And it is well-located in a high growth corridor, and this particular pocket has a fairly-low [multi-family] supply, which is hard to say in most of Austin.”

Becker said the complex was around 55-percent occupied when they began negotiating the acquisition but it has since jumped to 85-percent at the time of closing. According to apartmentlistings.com, the 830-square foot one-bedroom units are going in the $1,600-range while the two-bedroom, 1,174 square foot units are in the $1,800-range. The complex began leasing out apartments back in February.

“They basically leased over 300-units in nine months, that’s a ton of units,” he said.

As one of the fastest growing areas in the country, Becker said competition can be fierce for buyers in-and-around Austin. Hutto’s population grew from 14,698 to 27,577 — nearly an 88 percent increase — between 2010 and 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. City officials have said there are nearly 9,000 housing units either planned or under construction in Hutto as of 2022.

Becker said while the Austin residential market has slowed down a bit this year, prices are still at a premium and SPI doesn’t plan on moving away from its acquisition-based mindset anytime soon.

“The Austin-area has been very difficult to find deals in, but with interest rates going up, we are hopeful that the recent choppiness in the market will give us an advantage to expand our holdings,” he said.

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