Equity Residential, a Chicago real estate investment trust, has sold the last piece of its Triangle portfolio.

Late last month, the company sold the 215-unit Bainbridge In the Park Apartments in Durham to Hawthorne Residential Partners, a Greensboro company, for $10.7 million.

Equity, one of the country's largest REITs, has been shedding its Triangle assets over the past two years as part of a broader strategy to cash out of smaller markets and invest in bigger cities.

The REIT once had one of the biggest apartment portfolios in the Triangle: 4,031 units in 15 communities across Durham, Orange and Wake counties.

The Bainbridge sale was Equity's fourth apartment sale in March.

The company sold two Cary apartment buildings, Hidden Oaks Apartments and Woodbridge Apartments, to a New York investment firm for $40.5 million. It also sold the 198-unit Timber Hollow Apartments in Chapel Hill for $10.9 million.

Bainbridge was built in 1985. About 9 percent of its units were vacant in September, according to the Triangle Apartment Association and Karnes Research.

Equity purchased Bainbridge in 2000 for $12.7 million.

Equity Residential, a Chicago real estate investment trust that has been shedding its Triangle assets over the last two years, has sold two Cary apartment buildings to a private New York investment firm for $40.5 million.

Somerset Partners, which invests in multi-tenant and office buildings, paid $21.5 million for the 444-unit Hidden Oaks Apartments and $19 million for the 344-unit Woodbridge Apartments.

Somerset is one of a number of outside investors that have entered or expanded their foothold in the Triangle during the downturn. In September, Somerset bought its first Triangle property, paying $15.6 million for the 345-unit Beech Lake Apartments in Durham.

“When you step out of the major markets ... when you look to the next rung of cities we like all the attributes Raleigh has,” said Phil Welch, a Somerset partner. “I’d say Raleigh and Nashville are the two markets were most focused on.”

Welch cited the Triangle’s diverse economy, jobs base and the presence of three high-quality universities as reasons the firm considers the region a good investment. He said the firm hopes to expand its Triangle presence in the future.

“We’ll still buy more, but at least we feel we’ve got a pretty good toehold there,” he said.

Equity Residential, one of the nation's biggest real estate investment trusts, has sold another piece of its Triangle portfolio.

The REIT sold Legends at Preston, a 382-unit apartment complex in Morrisville, for $29.5 million to Sherman Residential, a Deerfield, Ill, company that bought The Pointe at Chapel Hill Apartment Homes in April.

The price was 2 percent less than what Equity paid in March 2001.

Legends at Preston was built in 1999. Seven percent of its units were vacant in September, according to data from the Triangle Apartment Association and Karnes Research.

Equity is one of several REITs that have been shedding properties in the Triangle over the last year.

Last month, Equity sold the 292-unit Lenox @ Patterson Place in Durham for just over $20 million, or 11 percent less than REIT paid in February 2006. In July, Equity sold the 374-unit Ashley Park at Brier Creek for $39 million, or 5 percent more than what the REIT paid in March 2005.

Sherman purchased The Pointe, a 240 room complex, for $21.75 million, or 25 percent less than what the seller paid in June 2007 at the peak of the commercial real estate boom. The company also owns The Parc at University Tower in Durham.

This week's $10.5 million sale of the Huntington Athletic Club Apartments in Morrisville wasn't the biggest Triangle apartment deal to close this month.

In another sign that buyers and sellers are finding some common ground,
the 292-unit Lenox @ Patterson Place Apartments in Durham was bought by
The Connor Group, an Ohio real estate company, on Dec. 1 for just over $20 million.

The price was 11 percent less than the seller, Equity Residential, a Chicago-based real estate investment trust, paid for the property in February 2006.