2 large Henderson apartment complexes sell for $150M

Two large Henderson apartment complexes have recently sold as the Las Vegas Valley’s multifamily market enters uncharted waters.

A 347-unit Henderson apartment complex called Alta NV sold for $90.7 million, according to Clark County property records. The luxury property is located close to MacDonald Highlands and the Green Valley Ranch Resort on Wigwam Parkway on a 16-acre plot.

Northmarq, the real estate firm that brokered the sale, declined to disclose the seller of the property, and property records point to Des Moines, Iowa-based Henderson Apartment Venture LLC. The buyers are MC Companies, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based private real estate company.

Northmarq listing broker Thomas Olivetti said in a statement that the property “is an outstanding asset that was offered below replacement cost in a great submarket.”

The multifamily project is listed as having such amenities as a swimming pool, an outdoor entertainment section, dog park, athletic center, office spaces, speakeasy, golf simulator lounger and outdoor rooftop deck.

Additionally, Tesoro Ranch apartment complex, which according to LoopNet, has approximately 400 units recently sold for $61.6 million. Los Angeles-based Tesoro Ranch Fee Owner LLC was the seller and Los Angeles-based Tesoro Ranch Owner LLC is the buyer. According to LoopNet, the complex sits on 22 acres across three parcels and has a business center, clubhouse, fitness center and pool.

Colliers International data shows there are approximately 232,751 multifamily units in the Las Vegas Valley, and in 2021 at the bottom of the interest rate cycle, there were 80 multifamily transactions of buildings with 100 or more units for a sales volume of $4.8 billion. That number dropped to 51 in 2022, six in 2023 and five so far this year for a total volume of $198 million.

Many properties at risk of defaulting

Multiple commercial real estate analysts including the Commercial Real Estate Council estimate that approximately 20 percent of all the loans on apartment properties across the U.S. could be at risk of defaulting and that there could be a rise in projects swapping hands as a result.

Pandemic-era, variable rate financing has been touted as the main cause, and it’s been pushing Las Vegas Valley apartment complex owners into tough financial situations as of late, according to a several area commercial brokers in a trend that is predominately hitting Sun Belt cities. The Las Vegas Valley has approximately 232,751 multifamily units.

In a previous interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Jeffrey Swinger, an executive vice president for multifamily investment sales with Colliers International in Las Vegas explained that cheap financing during the pandemic is coming back to haunt some projects.

“What this really boils down to is interest rates and COVID,” he said. ”Particularly starting in 2021, a lot of the lenders (within the multifamily market) because interest rates were zero, were able to offer these short-term floating rate loans, and they were typically three years. If you fast forward to today, a lot of these loans are coming due at today’s interest rates and it’s crushing them.”

The Real Deal recently reported that Tides Equities’s 176-unit Tides at Walnut Park complex in Las Vegas recently went into foreclosure. Tides has 23 properties in the Las Vegas Valley, according to its website.

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.