After two apartment communities in Denver and Castle Rock sold for a combined $132.5 million, brokers involved in the deal say the Denver multifamily market may be trending up.

The buyer, Virginia-based Harbor Group International LLC, also known as HGI, paid $75 million for The Prospector Modern Apartments at 3360 Esker Circle in Castle Rock, according to property records. It paid $57.5 million for the Ladora Modern Apartments at 18590 E. 61st Ave., near the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, according to property records.

HGI now owns 10 properties in the Denver area. Greg Heller, managing director of acquisitions at HGI, said in a release that Denver “is expected to attract more residents as the city’s investment in transportation and infrastructure creates additional jobs and opportunities in the market.”

CBRE’s Terrance Hunt, Shane Ozment, Andy Hellman and Justin Hunt and their multifamily investment properties team represented The Garrett Companies in the deal. 

Both apartment communities are new construction and are currently more than 80% leased, according to HGI. 

The Prospector apartments feature one-, two- and three-bedroom units with amenities that include a pool, fitness center, dog park and more. At 238 units, the sales price per unit was $315,126. 

At 196 units, the sales price for the Ladora community was $293,367 per unit. Ladora apartments feature one-, two- and three-bedroom units with attached and detached garages, a pool, a fitness center and outdoor kitchens. 

As part of CBRE’s multifamily team, Hunt and Ozment were part of ongoing litigation that sidelined them from working after they left Newmark for CBRE in 2021. 

But since getting back to business, they’ve been on a roll. 

“We’re ramped back up and feel we’re hitting our stride, and we’ve been able to perform in a difficult market because we’ve been through several downturns before, since we’ve been doing it almost three decades,” Hunt said. 

In addition to these two property sales, the team brokered three deals in December, including the $125.5 million sale of Platform at Union Station. Hunt said the team is on pace to finish five deals in February, “a pace we haven’t seen in a while.”

Hunt added that HGI, an institutional buyer, came onto the scene even though the properties hadn’t stabilized yet. Plus, HGI was in a bidding war with another group for both properties, “something we haven’t seen in over a year,” Hunt said. 

After the volatility created by interest rates, the multifamily market is getting more stable, and with rate cuts on the horizon, potential buyers are making sure they don’t miss their window of opportunity, according to Hunt.

“We are seeing some institutions call us and demonstrate through these transactions that they want to get in ahead of the wave,” Hunt said. 

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Hunt said the outlook is much more positive than it’s been in recent times. 

“We’re optimistic, but one thing we’ve learned is you’re never too sure what’s going to happen around the corner,” Hunt said.