Canadian firm buys Las Vegas apartment complex for $53.6M

A Canadian real estate firm has acquired a Las Vegas apartment complex, the latest lucrative deal for the valley’s multifamily sector.

Toronto-based Starlight Investments recently bought South Blvd, a 320-unit rental property at 10200 Giles St., for $53.6 million. The south valley complex is just east of Las Vegas Boulevard between Cactus Avenue and Silverado Ranch Boulevard.

The purchase closed Oct. 19, Clark County records indicate, and amounts to $167,500 per unit.

By comparison, investors have paid an average of $110,111 per unit for Las Vegas-area rental properties this year, according to brokerage firm Colliers International’s most recent market report.

The apartment business is among the most heated in Southern Nevada commercial real estate, marked by rising rents, shrinking vacancies, increased development of higher-end projects, and soaring sales prices.

More than a few people have questioned whether investors are overbuilding, especially in the southwest valley, where much of the construction is concentrated. Observers also have said rent growth could slow and vacancies could tick higher amid all the development.

But for now, investors’ appetite doesn’t seem to be diminishing.

South Blvd “drew strong interest from a number of buyers,” listing broker John Cunningham of Jones Lang LaSalle said in a statement. Moreover, the seller, New York investment firm The Praedium Group, fetched 28 percent above what it paid in late 2013, county records show.

Starlight owns apartment buildings in other parts of the United States, but this is its first in Las Vegas, said Evan Kirsh, president of U.S. operations.

South Blvd tenants pay an average of around $1 per square foot in rent, though Starlight figures prices would climb “over time,” Kirsh said.

He also said the company owns about 1,000 units in cities where it operates, so it may not be done shopping in Las Vegas.

Investors last year paid an average of about $71,800 per unit for Southern Nevada apartment complexes, according to Colliers. Among the most expensive properties to change hands this year include Domain, 831 Coronado Center Drive, which sold for $58.2 million, or almost $189,000 per unit; and The Wyatt, 7017 S. Buffalo Drive, which sold for about $57.3 million, or roughly $185,900 per unit.

Nevada West Partners, one of the biggest apartment developers in the valley, sold both of those properties and built South Blvd, as well.

Contact Review-Journal writer Eli Segall at (702) 383-0342. On Twitter at @eli_segall.