CREW Dallas Members Collaborate on Multi-Family Deals
 

In real estate, “you can know a little bit about a lot,” even when you are a veteran in the industry. This is why Sandra Taylor of SL Taylor Investments, LLC, reached out to fellow CREW Dallas members when she decided to purchase the 67-unit Wesley Apartment Building—a hidden gem in a high growth area near the Southwestern Medical District in Dallas, Texas. Taylor has focused on retail for most of her career, but she was ready to branch out into larger scale multi-family.

Taylor engaged the expertise of 10 current and three former CREW Dallas members to advise her on various aspects of the deal, such as title, insurance, legal matters, condition assessments, taxes, accounting, market data and financing. One current member was also an investor in the deal. 

To connect her with potential investors, Taylor contacted fellow chapter member Sharon Herrin, a 40-year industry veteran and owner of Herrin Commercial Real Estate. Herrin then gave recommendations of other CREW members, because she has never been let down by a CREW member in her experience, stating, “If a CREW member doesn’t have the ability to help, they will try to find another solution for you.”

Real estate attorney Ashley Deweese of Barnes & Thornburg LLP handled the legal aspects of The Wesley purchase, corporate formation, and refinance. During her first year in CREW Dallas, Deweese fortuitously met Taylor at a chapter meeting. Now in her seventh year as a real estate attorney, Deweese’s experience working with Taylor epitomizes the quote “lift as we rise,” with this deal being just one example.


Vicki Summerall (left), Sandra Taylor, and Ashley Deweese.

All deals are a learning experience; however, acquiring an apartment complex during a pandemic was a truly unique case. The Wesley Apartments were fully occupied at the time of the purchase in January 2020, and rehabilitation occurred in phases as tenants moved out. Even as the pandemic pursued, Taylor was able to receive higher rents than she had initially projected. In fact, she was able to achieve the pro-forma rent for years three and four in the second year of ownership. Monthly rents at The Wesley are economically priced and less than the Class A units in the area. Taylor assumes the lower prices in a secure neighborhood were a good solution for those who needed to scale back expenses during the pandemic. The lesson learned: the market truly does dictate the amount of rent you can receive. 

CREW Dallas members were prominently involved in the transaction of The Wesley as well, including Ashley Deweese, again as legal counsel, Julie Blakeley, Regional President at Happy State Bank, and Vicki Summerall, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Republic Title. Taylor even received offers to purchase the property from members of other CREW chapters. She credits the professional support which she received from her expert teams of CREW members with the success of the acquisition, refinance, and disposition of the deal.

CREW members involved in this article:

 

Vionna Adams is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) and certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with a background in land development and urban planning. As a senior project manager at Design Group, she leads cross functional teams on building expansion and greenfield projects in the industrial sector to help clients to expand their current business and product lines and create new ones.

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