Capital Square, one of the nation's leading sponsors of tax-advantaged real estate investments and an active developer of multifamily communities, announced the acquisition of Village at Westland Cove, a Class A, 240-unit multifamily community in Knoxville, Tennessee. The community was acquired on behalf of CS1031 Village of Westland Cove Apartments, DST.
This is Capital Square's sixth acquisition of a multifamily community in Tennessee for the DST/1031 exchange program. Village at Westland Cove is located in one of the hottest housing markets in the nation for 2021.1 Employment in the area is exceptionally strong, with the Oak Ridge Reservation and National Laboratory, operated by the U.S. Department of Energy, only 19 miles away, generating 14,667 full-time jobs and wages totaling over $1.3 billion."
Louis Rogers founder and chief executive officer of Capital Square
Completed in 2019, Village at Westland Cove is located at 9635 Westland Cove Way along Interstate 140. The 28.2-acre luxury multifamily community sits on the shore of scenic Fort Loudoun Lake. It offers one-, two- and three-bedroom units averaging 1,147 square feet with best-in-class amenities. The community features include a state-of-the-art fitness center, Amazon lockers and coolers for grocery deliveries, car care center, two pet play areas, coffee bar, business center, food truck nights, gaming patio with bocce ball court, outdoor firepit, outdoor kitchen, club house, swimming pool, kayaks available to residents, as well as lake access via a resident dock.
Village at Westland Cove is located within close proximity of The Pinnacle at Turkey Creek, a 650,000-square-foot shopping center that includes more than 65 retail stores and restaurants. The property is in the 10th hottest housing market in the country for 2021,1 with a 5-year value increase of 55%, according to Zillow Group. Turkey Creek Medical Center, a Level III trauma center that is part of Tennova Healthcare, lies within two miles of the property. Situated further along the I-140 and I-40 are attractions such as Knoxville Museum of Art, Market Square and Zoo Knoxville.
The Oak Ridge Reservation, operated by the U.S. Department of Energy and home to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is approximately 19 miles from the Village at Westland Cove and is the largest employer in the area. According to the East Tennessee Economic Council, approximately 14,667 full-time jobs were directly provided by the DOE and its major contractors within Tennessee in 2020, with annual wages and salaries totaling nearly $1.311 billion.2 WBIR.com reports that Bill Lee, Tennessee's governor, recently announced a $72 million budget for the UT-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute, a collaboration between the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in a bid to attract and maintain science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent in the Knoxville area.3
"Village at Westland Cove is an exceptional multifamily property located in an idyllic setting with luxury amenities throughout," said Whitson Huffman, chief strategy and investment officer. "The local economy is thriving, with low unemployment, high average household income and growing demand for high-end apartment living such as that provided to the residents of Village at Westland Cove."
Data from Esri shows the average household income within a three-mile radius of the property reaches approximately $130,000. According to Yardi Matrix, Knoxville's rental rates are rising along with demand, with 18% year-over-year rent growth and 98.1% average occupancy as of March 31, 2022.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that Knoxville witnessed an increase of over 19,000 job opportunities since February 2021, with unemployment rates reaching 2.8%. According to the BLS, job opportunities in the area should continue to grow with 3M Company announcing plans to invest approximately $470 million to expand their manufacturing facility in the Knoxville MSA, creating 600 new jobs by 2025.4
Taylor Bird, Nelson Abels, Robert Stickel, and Alex Brown of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller.
Bird, executive director of Cushman & Wakefield, noted, "The Village at Westland Cove offers a truly unique asset coupled with an unrivaled amenity package, interior finishes and beautiful water views."
CS1031 Village of Westland Cove, DST seeks to raise $52.8 million in equity from accredited investors and has a minimum investment requirement of $50,000.
Since its founding in 2012, Capital Square has acquired 146 real estate assets for approximately 6,000 investors seeking quality replacement properties that qualify for tax deferral under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code and other investors seeking stable cash flow and capital appreciation.
About Capital Square
Capital Square is a national real estate firm specializing in tax-advantaged real estate investments, including Delaware statutory trusts for Section 1031 exchanges, qualified opportunity zone funds for tax deferral and exclusion and a real estate investment trust (REIT). In recent years the company has become an active developer of multifamily properties in the southeastern US, with eight current projects totaling approximately 2,000 apartment units with a total development cost in excess of $600 million. Since 2012, Capital Square has completed more than $5.6 billion in transaction volume. Capital Square's executive team has decades of experience in real estate investments. Capital Square's related entities provide a range of services, including due diligence, acquisition, loan sourcing, property/asset management, and disposition, for a growing number of high-net-worth investors, private equity firms, family offices and institutional investors. Since 2017, Capital Square has been recognized by Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest growing companies in the nation for four consecutive years. In 2017, 2018 and 2020, the company was also ranked on Richmond BizSense's list of fastest growing companies. Additionally, Capital Square was listed by Virginia Business on their "Best Places to Work in Virginia" report in 2019 and their "Fantastic 50" reports in 2019 and 2020.