West Durham apartment complex sells for $52.2 million to a NJ real estate firm

An apartment complex of 41 acres in west Durham was sold by Atlanta-based real estate firm Audubon for $52.2 million recently, the company announced.

The 500-unit Crossings @ 501 complex at 4230 Garrett Rd. was sold to an undisclosed buyer, but property records show it was bought by an LLC owned by Friedlam Partners, a New Jersey-based real estate investment firm that owns properties across the Southeast. The apartments were formerly called The Garrett.

Friedlam Partners spent almost $14 million more than Audubon did when it purchased the property in 2018.

Audubon made improvements and renovations to the 4-decade-old complex, which sold at an average of $104,300 per unit in the sale.

“The Garrett was a key component in our strategy to expand our footprint, serving as our first foray into the North Carolina market when we acquired it in 2018,” said Myles Cunningham, chief investment officer at Audubon, in a news release. “Considering the resources we put into it, we feel we added tremendous value in a short period of time and are very pleased with the return we delivered for our investors.”

Rents at Crossings @ 501 range from $995 to $1,665 for one- to three-bedroom units, according to apartments.com.

Friedlam owns apartment properties Raleigh, Cary, Garner, Charlotte, Gastonia and Concord, in addition to properties in South Carolina.

Other multifamily housing owned by Friedlam in the Triangle include the Greenbrier complex next to Garner High School and the Casa del Sol and Fox Ridge Manor apartments in Raleigh, all of which are older apartments improved by real estate firms who previously owned them.

Out-of-state investment firms also recently bought the University Apartments by Duke University and the Meriwether Place Apartments in Durham in transactions that totaled over $80 million, The News & Observer previously reported.