Just Sold: Black Swan buys Rochester apartments

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Rochester-based Black Swan Living has acquired the 29-unit Uptown Apartments for $5.35 million, pushing its portfolio to more than 1,000 units in its hometown and another 300 in Tacoma, Washington.

The total is impressive considering that Black Swan owners Elaine and Nick Stageberg ended 2021 with 390 units, all in and around Rochester.

In Black Swan’s latest move, a related entity named Uptown Apartments Asset Management LLC, closed April 11 on the acquisition from 1709 3rd LLC, an entity related to Rochester-based Paramark Real Estate Services, which developed the property in 2017.

The three-story building is four blocks west of Mayo Clinic’s St. Marys campus, on a  0.7-acre site at 1721 Third St. SW. The one- and two-bedroom units have rents starting at $1,600 per month.

The sale price works out to $184,483 per unit. The average sale price per unit for apartments in the Twin Cities metro area is $153,695, according to the Finance & Commerce Apartment Sales Tracker at finance-commerce.com. The tracker has recorded the sale of 85,716 apartment units since Aug. 31, 2011.

Black Swan has landed some larger properties to fuel its recent growth spurt. In 2023, it bought the 129-unit Residence at Discovery Square apartment building in downtown Rochester for $26.9 million, which works out to $208,527 per unit.

Paramark manages more than 5,000 housing units and over 1 million square feet of commercial property, according to its website. It brokers more than 60 commercial lease and sale transactions a year, and oversees a portfolio worth $1 billion in assets.

Place: 1721 Third St. SW, Rochester

Price: $5,350,000; $1,605,000 down payment; new mortgage; $184,483 per unit

Buyer: Uptown Apartments Asset Management LLC, Rochester

Seller: 1709 3rd LLC, Rochester

Date: 4-11-24

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Public school co-op to take over Winona Mall

Hiawatha Valley Education District, a special education cooperative serving a dozen public school districts in the Winona area, has taken a major step in saving money and streamlining its operations.

The district has spent $4.2 million to buy the 55,000-square-foot Winona Mall at 1213 Gilmore Ave. in Winona, with plans to renovate it to replace two buildings it owns and three others it leases in scattered locations. The entire project is set for completion in 2025, with a budget capped at $15 million, according to district documents.

The price works out to $76.36 per square foot.

That’s not the plan real estate veteran John Alexander had in 2017 when he bought the mall, which then included three buildings and about 125,000 square feet of space, for $5 million. He changed his mind when the district came to him with an offer.

“Everything’s for sale,” he said philosophically. The district is working with about 11 tenants on relocation. Alexander, who also is a youth wrestling coach, already has bought a warehouse he has converted to a training center named Warriors Warehouse and is working on other projects.

Place: 1213 Gilmore Ave., Winona

Price: $4.2 million; cash; $76.36 per square foot

Buyer: Hiawatha Valley Education District, Winona

Seller: Winona Mall LLC, Winona

Date: 4-16-24

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