TEMPE, Ariz.– Institutional Property Advisors (IPA) a division of Marcus & Millichap (NYSE: MMI), sold West Sixth, a core-plus, condo-quality 375-unit/625-bed student housing community located just steps from Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Arizona. According to Ryan Sarbinoff, regional manager of the firm’s Phoenix office, the asset sold for $123,000,000.
Peter Katz, IPA Executive Managing Director, alongside Steve Gebing and Cliff David, IPA Senior Managing Directors, had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the seller and procured the buyer in the transaction. Katz stated, “Despite the significant supply of student housing and market-rate deliveries in recent years and in the pipeline, West Sixth has and will succeed at achieving extremely high annual occupancies, coupled with above market YOY rent growth. This asset will unequivocally produce high single digit unleveraged and low teen leveraged yields moving forward.”
Completed in 2011, West Sixth is where higher learning meets the elevated lifestyle featuring sleek residences with plenty of sunlight, floor-to-ceiling windows, spacious living areas, and resort-style amenities. Ideally located west of Mill Avenue, this pedestrian property sits among the rapidly expanding infrastructure and thriving urban culture of downtown Tempe. West Sixth represents a truly iconic property, with unobstructed views of the Valley of the Sun in all four directions from each of the two towers. The interiors provide unique condo-level finishes, at the epicenter of the Valley’s live, work, and play paradise. West Sixth has represented a key, upperclassmen, affluent renter by choice housing option for Arizona State University students as well as millennials working in the Tempe/Scottsdale, and East Valley.
Situated less than a block from campus, much of West Sixth’s renter demand comes from the 51,585 students attending Arizona State University's main Tempe campus. The property benefits from the seamless transition between university life and professional ambition offering access to a broad range of industries including advanced business services, high technology, manufacturing, sales, education, and healthcare as well as providing a place for residents to live, grow, and thrive. These discerning renters are continually choosing the flexible lifestyle affording them the ability to walk, learn, work, and socialize within a five-to-ten-minute commute of their home. West Sixth has reached at or near full occupancy every year since its 2011 opening. The property is currently 98% occupied and is already 88% preleased for the 2019-2020 school year.