Investment Builders rides El Paso multifamily wave

EL PASO – Investment Builders Inc. is set to break ground on a $16 million, 160-unit upscale apartment complex called Casitas Del Este Apartments, located at 1331 Pullman Dr. on the East Side.

About 90 percent of the complex will be one- and two-bedroom apartments, and about 10 percent will be three-bedroom units. The apartments will range from 700 sf to 1,400 sf, and rents will range from $700 for a one-bedroom to $1,400 for a three-bedroom.
The ten-acre project is being marketed as being set apart from the competition by having the 160 units all at ground level.

El Paso had a 94.5 percent apartment occupancy rate in third quarter 2012, down slightly from 97 percent for the 3Q 2011, according to ARA Apartment Realty Advisors.

El Paso apartment rents averaged $737 in 3Q 2012, up almost 7 percent from a year ago. Rents averaged from $642 for a one-bedroom to $1,152 for a four-bedroom.

Investment Builders Inc. is also building a 184-unit, upscale apartment complex called Villas at Helen of Troy on the West Side. The company also recently opened a small apartment complex on the East Side, and finished the second phase of another complex in Northeast El Paso.

For more information on Villas at Helen of Troy, see previous NewsTalk Texas.