GlobeSt.com Commercial Real Estate News and Property Resource
Last updated: Monday, July 16, 2007
Mosaic Residential Sets Sights on Value-Adds
By Amy Wolff Sorter
HOUSTON-The just-launched Mosaic Residential Inc. is getting ready to complete its first multifamily property acquisitions. The new buyer's first deals are located in North Texas.
Mosaic founding partners Jay O'Connor and Robert Weber are closing in late September on two complexes, totaling 368 units, while looking for similar assets in other Southwest cities. "We've always been interested in Plano as a market," O'Connor says. "There were some deals up there that had languished on the market and were a perfect fit for us."
The company's target market is class C-plus and class B-minus rental properties that need some capital infusion and management changes to bring them up to par. O'Connor says Mosaic likes assets that require mainly interior renovation. "We're looking to spend anywhere between $3,000 and $7,000 on the interiors, depending on the asset," he adds.
Weber tells GlobeSt.com that Mosaic's partners expect acquisition costs to average $50,000 per unit. "Our goal is to make eight to 10 quality acquisitions a year," he says, "and we'll manage everything in-house."
The targeted hold is relatively short, with 12 to 15 months dedicated to renovation, another year to improve operations and resale. "We'll go in, execute the strategy, move on and redeploy the capital," Weber says.
O'Connor and Weber say they're looking for assets in Phoenix, Tucson and Albuquerque, NM as well as Texas. "We recently spent time in Phoenix and found several assets that fit our criteria," Weber says.
O'Connor and Weber bring years of multifamily and asset management experience to the company, having served stints at Camden Property Trust, United Dominion Residential Inc., Alliance Residential Co. and CNC Investments. Abe Bhimani, another company partner, also worked at Alliance Residential while Velissa Parmer, also a partner, came from CNC Investments.