Curtis buys Ramsey rentals for $22 million.

Byline: William Morris

The state of Washington is a long way from Ramsey, Minnesota. In terms of rental housing, however, they're becoming inseparable.

Belleview, Washington-basedCurtis Capital Group has paid $22 million for the 121-unit Park View East Apartments at 14450 Rhinestone St. NW, according to a certification of real estate value made public Friday. The seller is an entity connected to Ramsey-based PSD LLC, which developed the building and opened it in 2017.

The sale works out to $181,818 per unit, higher than the $132,416 per unit recorded by Finance & Commerce's Twin Cities Apartment Sales Tracker. Finance & Commerce has tracked the sales of more than 49,160 units since 2011.

Neither party could be reached for comment.

Curtis isn't the only Washington company making a mark in Ramsey, population 23,668. Inland Group, a developer based in Spokane, received approvals this spring for a 175-unit senior housing complex called Affinity at Ramsey. And Kirkland, Washington-based Weidner Apartment Homes bought the 230-unit Residence at the COR complex in 2015.

"Ramsey's [housing market] has proven to be pretty strong, stronger I think than we thought," said Mary Bujold, president of Golden Valley-based Maxfield Research and Consulting. "There's been a lot of growth out in that Rogers-Otsego-Elk River market area, and I think Ramsey's picking up some of that."

Curtis Capital has now bought six Twin Cities apartment properties since 2014, most recently when it snapped up the 46-year-old Pointe at Cedar Grove complex in Eagan in April. Park View East, less than 2 years old, is a very different kind of property, but it's not surprising Curtis would find both attractive, said Chris Collins, an associate with the Twin Cities office of Marcus & Millichap who specializes in the apartment market.

"These outlying suburbs, not your first or second ring, are starting to get a lot of investment in them too...