 | | | Photos Cathy Tyson
| | | | | | After purchasing what they describe as "tired" Lafayette Highland apartments in 2005, Bascom Northwest Ventures, along with its partner Capri Urban Capital, invested $5.4 million dollars upgrading the property. Everything from the leasing office to the fitness center and especially the 150 apartments on Carol Lane got the once over: new granite countertops, new cabinets, a washer/dryer in every unit, along with new roofs, HVAC and seismic upgrades.
They purchased the property for $29.4 million and after extensive upgrades sold it to a publicly traded REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust), BRE Properties, for $48.75 million dollars. That works out to $325,000 per unit - a record high for the East Bay. Managing Member of Bascom Northwest Ventures Brian Wirtz said, "The deal was driven by the Lafayette apartment market and good schools in the area."
Not only will Lafayette benefit with freshly updated apartments, but there will also be property tax revenue coming to the City. Administrative Services Director Tracy Robinson estimates that, "the additional property tax that accrues to the City annually will be approximately $10,400 since we get about 6% of the 1% property tax. In addition, there is a property transfer tax of $0.55 per $1000 of the sale price, which should bring in another $26,800 (one-time)." This is due to the change in value of the property from the previous assessment of $31,383,000 to the current sale price of $48,750,000.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA