Urban renaissance
Weidner Apartment Homes paid $64 million for the Metropolitan in downtown Oklahoma City, in a deal handled by ARA Newmark.
Weidner Apartment Homes made another signature purchase in Oklahoma City Tuesday, this time right where the action is downtown: It bought the still-has-thatnew-smell Metropolitan for $64 million, a record price of $194,666 per unit.
The transaction rode on the continued urban renaissance of Oklahoma City and the streetcar system now unfolding downtown, according to ARA Newmark brokers Tim McKay, David Burnett, Brandon Lamb and Justin Wilson, who represented the seller, Houston-based Bomasada Group.
The 329-unit Metropolitan, 800 N Oklahoma Ave., is 95 percent occupied, the brokers said.
The glitter had barely settled from Kirkland, Washington-based Weidner’s last celebrated purchase here, the state’s largest apartment complex, Brookwood Village, 9401 S Shartel Ave., in June.
Weidner entered the Oklahoma City market in 2014 with the purchase of Liberty Pointe Apartment Homes, 6600 SE 74, from developer Gardner Tanenbaum. Weidner also owns apartments in Tulsa and Broken Arrow.
“Oklahoma City is a shining example of public-private partnerships re-energizing a central business district. When streetcars come online next year, residents can hop on for a night out in Bricktown or watch the OKC Thunder in action or stroll Automobile Alley, Deep Deuce or Midtown,” McKay said.
Weidner, a privately held real estate investment, development and management company and one of the 50 largest apartment owners in the U.S., isn’t finished investing in the Sooner State, said Kevin Colard, vice president of acquisitions.
"Weidner remains keenly interested in the Oklahoma market as a whole, and signals our intent to pursue every opportunity to add quality assets to our holdings within the state," he said late Tuesday in a news release.
By the end of the year, he said, "We anticipate our portfolio within the state to be well over 3,000 apartment homes with roughly 2,000 of them concentrated in Oklahoma City."
Colard added, "The Metropolitan is a unique mix of great curb appeal, fantastic design and best-inclass amenities, and will be a wonderful addition to our growing group of apartment communities in Oklahoma.”