About Space: Saturday, July 26, 2008

TULSA — Apartment sales in Tulsa for the second half of 2008 started with a bang just after the Fourth of July.

A California buyer entered the Oklahoma multifamily market by purchasing a portfolio of four Tulsa apartment complexes July 11 for a combined $52.95 million in a deal handled by Keith Wilson of Keith Wilson Co. in Oklahoma City.

The properties were

•Bristol Park, 4414 S Garnett, 512 units, built in 1977-1979 — $18.1 million.

•Tower Crossing, 4404 S 109th East Ave., 216 units, built in 1981 — $7.35 million.

•Canyon Creek, 2102 E 51st St., 384 units, built in 1979 — $12.5 million.

•Foxfire, 7324 S Wheeling, 440 units, built in 1977 — $15 million.

The West Coast buyer "simply could not pass up the opportunity to realize much higher cap rates (a measure of potential income) than he could achieve there. Also, the portfolio was of such size, 1,552 units, that he could justify a move into a market that he was previously not in,” Wilson said.

WARR ACRES — Woodbrier Apartments, 5522 Woodbrier Drive, sold for $4.45 million, 2 percent more than the list price, according to Sperry Van Ness, which handled the sale for the seller.

The apartments have 128 units on 9.16 acres. Andy Burnett and David Burnett were the brokers. The seller and buyer both were Californians. Jackie Hatton with Capitol Abstract & Title handled the closing.

"We had five offers in just under a month of marketing the property yet getting to close was harder than initially expected. The financing element was the only tricky part of this deal,” David Burnett said.

Andy Burnett said the buyer plans improvements. The nearly 8.5 percent capitalization rate "really drove the interest in the property,” he said.

Caliber Development Co. has started construction on the clubhouse, fitness center, pool, playground and "splash park” at The Grove, its nearly 1-square-mile development in northwest Oklahoma City.

Construction of community amenities in the neighborhood, bounded by Portland and May avenues and NW 178 and NW 192, coincides with the building of the Deer Creek Public School District's newest school, Grove Valley Elementary, on land Caliber donated southeast of Portland and NW 192.

The private clubhouse and recreational facility is expected to open in early 2009. The Grove has opened two residential phases, Bloom's Terrace, with homes starting around $150,000, and The Orchard, with homes starting around $220,000.