Bethesda Apartment Complex Sold at 37% Discount
AIR Communities purchased the building from Invesco in late April for $129.8M, less than two-thirds of the 2016 sale price
By Jacob Gardenswartz May 13, 2024 5:25 pm
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When Flats 8300, the 359-unit apartment complex in Bethesda, Md., sold in 2016 for $207 million, it set a record for the most expensive multifamily property sale in Maryland history. Eight years later, the building has traded again, but at a steep discount.
Denver-based real estate investment trust AIR Communities purchased the building at 8300 Wisconsin Avenue in late April for $129.8 million, Montgomery County property records show. In a recent LinkedIn post announcing the deal with Invesco Real Estate (IVZ), AIR Chief Investment Officer Josh Minix praised the site’s location and “value potential.”
The nine-story building was developed as a joint venture between local real estate developer Stonebridge (previously known as StonebridgeCarras) and Chicago’s Walton Street Capital, but was sold a month after opening to Invesco. Beyond the apartments, the building includes a 50,000square-foot Harris Teeter grocery store and Starbucks coffee shop, as well as residential amenities such as rooftop pools, a business center, a pet spa and coworking spaces.
AIR’s acquisition represents the company’s second multifamily building purchase in Bethesda in the past year. The company purchased The Elm, a 456-unit residential town, from Carr Properties last August for $220 million. AIR owns 76 rental communities across 10 states and Washington, D.C., in total, including several additional properties in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs and three in metro D.C., according to its website.
Last month, Blackstone announced it was purchasing all outstanding AIR shares for approximately $10 billion, Commercial Observer reported, with plans to take the company private.
“AIR Communities represents the highest-quality, large-scale apartment portfolio we have ever acquired, and is located in markets where multifamily fundamentals are strong,” Nadeem Meghji, global co-head of real estate at Blackstone, said in a statement at the time.
Representatives for Invesco and AIR did not immediately respond to CO’s inquiries about the Bethesda transaction.
