A 260-unit apartment complex near Black Canyon Highway in North Phoenix has changed hands for $58.7 million, a price that comes in well below what a different buyer was willing to pay for the same property less than two years ago. Ascend at Black Canyon, a community in Phoenix's Deer Valley Urban Village, was sold by homebuilder D.R. Horton to Salt Lake City-based Millburn & Company, according to Yield PRO.
The $58.7 million price works out to $225,769 per unit, a figure that stands in sharp contrast to the $76 million that real estate investment firm Tides Equities had been under contract to pay for the property weeks before The Real Deal's October 11, 2024 report. The firm's primary equity partner had approved and signed off on the deal but could not obtain liquidity in time for closing, and the deal collapsed, as The Real Deal reported at the time. The later sale was roughly $17.3 million below the proposed 2024 price. Yield PRO reported that Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, brokered the sale, representing seller D.R. Horton and procuring buyer Millburn & Company through executive managing directors Steve Gebing and Cliff David.
D.R. Horton Sells, Millburn & Company Buys
The property was recently completed before its sale.
Why TSMC's Chip Campus Keeps Drawing Investors
Yield PRO describes tens of thousands of high-earning jobs in the area supporting chip production. IPA executive managing director Steve Gebing pointed to Deer Valley's position near companies supporting advanced nanometer chip production, including Apple, Sony, Tesla, and Qualcomm, per Yield PRO.
The property sits near Interstate 17, the Sonoran Preserve, and the Happy Valley Town Center open-air shopping mall, with nearby employers including HonorHealth Sonoran Crossing Medical Center, PetSmart's corporate headquarters, Honeywell Aerospace, Cox Communications, and American Express. Household incomes within one mile of the complex average $163,500 annually, with a median of $138,000, the brokerage reported.
National Apartment Construction Pipeline Recedes
The national apartment construction pipeline is receding.
The deal adds to a string of recent North Phoenix multifamily transactions Hoodline has tracked, including a 108-unit complex sale along the same Black Canyon Highway corridor over the summer and plans for State Land Department land auctions near Desert Ridge. Ascend at Black Canyon itself offers one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with stainless-steel appliances, in-unit washers and dryers, smart-home technology, dual-pane windows, and private patios or balconies, alongside community amenities including a resort-style pool, a 24-hour fitness center, two dog parks, and a pet-washing station, as a controlled-access community.
