Luxury apartments at The Summit at Fritz Farm sell for record price
The Henry, the luxury apartment complex at The Summit at Fritz Farm, has sold for a record $64 million, according to the Fayette County PVA’s office.
That’s a record both for total price and per unit, according to David O’Neill, Fayette County PVA, with an average price of more than $209,150 per unit.
That tops the previous record of $166,000 per unit reportedly paid for the WaterStone apartments at Hamburg on Polo Club sold last year. The previous record for total price for an apartment complex was $52 million, set in 2012 for the Forty57 complex on Mooncoin, according to O’Neill.
The apartments, built by Bayer Properties as part of the $211 million development at Man o’War and Nicholasville Road, were purchased on Feb. 27 by Passco Companies of Irvine, Calif., a national real estate investment firm with $4 billion in properties nationally, according to O’Neill.
Bayer Properties had no immediate comment on the transaction.
The developers received about $111 million in economic incentives, including tax breaks, for the retail, dining, office, apartment and hotel complex.
The Henry began leasing in the fall of 2016, with one-, two- and three-bedroom units leasing for $1,181 to $2,250 a month.
The complex is stretched over four parcels, with a pool, parking garage, pet spa and other amenities next to The Summit at Fritz Farm shopping center with dozens of restaurants and retail stores. Some of the apartments are above stores, which are not included in the transaction, according to O’Neill.
The sale involves 151 Larue, 200 Larue, 120 Summit at Fritz Farm Suite 200 and 120 Summit at Fritz Farm Suite 250, he said.
What’s driving these record apartment sale prices? Demand.
“I think that we have a fairly strong demand for housing, a house shortage,” O’Neill said. “Demand continues to increase but supply is relatively flat.”
Some of the demand is from University of Kentucky students, he said, but not all. “We’re still building about 500 single-family homes a year, and averaging close to 600 apartment-type units a year,” O’Neill said. “But even with both of those combined we’re still probably 500-600 units short of what our demand is, including students, which is a fairly significant factor in our market.”
Of the top-selling apartment complexes, only one is primarily “student housing.”
Passco Companies said in a news release that the attraction of The Henry was its walkable proximity to shopping and dining and an affluent population to enjoy it all.
“Lexington is a very wealthy, established community that continues to grow and create numerous new high-paying jobs, and that is certainly reflected in the absorption rate and the on-site demographics at The Henry,” said Colin Gillis, vice president of acquisitions for Passco. “The property has one of the most affluent tenant bases of any community in any market in which we have ever acquired, and perhaps the lowest rent-to-income ratio in our portfolio.”
Gillis noted that the city has been rated by Moody’s as “in an expansion cycle phase,” with an influx of business and development. The apartments, which have open-concept floor plans, 9-foot ceilings, plank flooring, oversized patios or balconies and other attractive amenities designed to cater to wealthier renters.
Top-selling apartments, by total price
▪ The Henry at The Summit at Fritz Farm, $64 million
▪ Forty57 on Mooncoin in Beaumont, $52 million
▪ Racquet Club on Crosby Drive, $51.5 million
▪ WaterStone on Polo Club in Hamburg, $44 million
▪ Student apartments on Angliana, $40.8 million.
This story was originally published March 5, 2019 at 12:09 PM.
