Ann Arbor real estate company Cabrio Properties expanded its portfolio this week with the purchase of an apartment complex on West Huron Street.

The company purchased the 28-unit, three-building Allen Creek Apartments, located at 1000 W Huron. St., just west of Seventh Street.

Cabrio Properties is the new owner of the Allen Creek Apartment complex on West Huron Street in Ann Arbor.

Courtesy photo

According to city documents, the sellers of the complex were Jim and Linda Jones, who owned the property for more than 15 years. It was listed for sale for $2 million with Dan Stewart and Mike Lamb of Sperry Van Ness/Stewart Commercial Group LLC.

Stewart called the ownership transition a perfect scenario: Jim and Linda Jones were looking to retire and Cabrio was looking to invest in another property.

“(Jim and Linda) have been managing this property themselves for a number of years,” he said. “Now they were just looking to have a bit more freedom and lifestyle that will allow them to travel a bit more.”

He said the property has been “very well maintained” and the buildings, which were constructed in the 1950s, are fully occupied. Nearly half the tenants in the building are University of Michigan graduate students, he said. “(Jim and Linda) had done a good job of maintaining the property and Cabrio…they were absolutely the right buyer,” he said.

Stewart and Cabrio declined to name the purchase price of the property. Its assessed value was $911,100 in the 2012 tax year, making its estimated market value about double that.

Jason Costello, president of Cabrio, said the Allen Creek Apartments “fit well into (Cabrio’s) portfolio.”

Cabrio also owns and manages a 15-unit apartment complex just west of the Allen Creek complex on West Huron Street, called Huron Flats. The company purchased it in 2010 for $730,000 and invested in a complete renovation.

Cabrio’s strategy includes finding buildings that need cosmetic upgrades, and then making renovations to increase demand for the units. The six-year-old company owns several properties near downtown Ann Arbor and U-M’s campus, including a 13-unit building at 825 Tappan St. and a 38-unit building at 332 E. William St.

Cabrio also has commercial buildings in its portfolio, and manages the leasing for a number of properties. The company was recently retained to manage and lease the historical Washington Square building in downtown Ann Arbor following its sale last month.

Costello said they are planning on renovating both the exterior and interior of the Allen Creek Apartments, including the individual apartments.

“The building is in very good condition,” he said. “There’s little to no deferred maintenance…we will just be carrying out a vision we have for making it more modern and aesthetically appealing to the current generation and current target demographic for renters.”

He added: “We think it’s pretty important to update the housing stock, particularly to compete with all the new developments.”

Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2584 or email her at lizzyalfs@annarbor.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lizzyalfs.