IMP Paying Simpson Near $190M for 286 Luxury Apartments Via JLL

BOSTON—An ongoing CRE venture between hometown GID and a California pension fund has emerged top bidder for one of metro Boston’s hottest apartment properties, as sources are indicating to therealreporter.com that Institutional Multifamily Partners has agreed to pay nearly $190 million following a brief-but-intense bidding war conducted by JLL for developer Simpson Housing. The Victor, an 11-story, 286-unit luxury tower across from TD Garden, was put on the block this spring through the JLL multifamily practice group, named exclusive agents to harvest the LEED-Gold asset which is sited on a state-owned parking lot.

The JLL multifamily practice group is led by Managing Directors Michael Coyne and Travis D’Amato under the Capital Markets platform run by Managing Directors Christopher Angelone and Frank F. Petz. JLL team members did not return phone calls by press deadline regarding the agreement, but multiple industry experts insist both sides have a deal in tow and are working toward a closing that could come in early Q4. Extending a relationship to 1998, GID and the California State Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) formed IMP in 2010 to concentrate on East Coast residential deals.

Colorado-based Simpson’s pioneering $140 million Victor was launched in 2011 just as North Station began a precipitous boom that shows little sign of abating and lately amidst which capital from across the globe is chasing available opportunities, especially multifamily. Based a 15 minute walk away in the Financial District, Victor victor IMP has “gone hard” on a non-refundable deposit for the 377,000-sf structure, according to professionals tracking the negotiations. “Yes,” one spoken to responds when queried whether the partnership administered by GID at 125 High St. had topped its competition, that source among those pegging the result to be in the high $180-million sphere. If it lands between $188 million and $190 million, the cost of entry would be an impressive $650,000 to $664,000, though the deal also includes 17,000 sf of streetfront retail and a three-story parking garage with 138 prized slots, making it harder to gauge value compared to a straight apartment building.

In return, IMP gets a modern mixed-use high-rise in the heart of a business district where progress was held back for a half-century by the imposing Interstate 93 viaduct. That was finally depressed via the Big Dig Tunnel and replaced with the verdant Rose F. Kennedy Greenway right outside the Simpson Housing entry. Public transit is immediate, with the structure sitting over MBTA Green and Orange Line rails and two minutes from commuter rail connecting to the North Shore, New Hampshire and Maine.

Building amenities worthy of monthly rents “starting at” $2,750 for a studio, $2,885 for a one-bedroom and $3,370 for a two-bedroom include a green roof with two lounges; 3,000-sf health club featuring a sports court; and a residential lobby with yet another tenant meeting venue. “It’s an incredible property,” declares one CRE multifamily expert familiar with The Victor who further calls the listing “right up their alley” in reference to IMP and an investment target of best-in-class, stabilized product.

Institutional Multifamily Partners LLC is a discretionary equity co- investment vehicle formed through the consolidating acquisition of three existing and separate multifamily investment portfolios. The assemblage prior to addition of The Victor included 46 investments totaling 12,800 apartments, eight of the deals development projects. Similar to The Victor, 18 properties have retail and commercial space eclipsing a total of 530,000 sf, while GID serves as portfolio and asset manager through Windsor Property Management Company, its property management affiliate.