Tides Equities Faces More Apartment Losses in Dallas

17 July 2024

Foreclosures continue to chip away at Tides Equities’ multifamily portfolio in Dallas-Fort Worth.

After aggressively collecting Metroplex apartment buildings in 2020 and 2021, the multifamily syndicator lost two properties to its lenders through foreclosure — and is on the brink of losing three more.

Two of the Los Angeles-based firm’s Dallas properties went back to lender DPI Acres Capital, which provided a $36.4 million mortgage.

DPI acquired Tides at Whispering Hills, a 314-unit apartment complex at 13015 Audelia Road, with a $26.1M credit bid; it also bought back Tides at Lawler East, a 220-unit apartment complex at 13030 Audelia Road, with a $29 million credit bid, according to Roddy’s Foreclosure Listing Service.

That comes out to about $83,000 per unit and $132,000 per unit, respectively.

Tides bought both complexes in 2022 — Lawler East in April for $55.5 million and Whispering Hills in October for $41.4 million according to documents obtained by TRD pitching investors to put preferred equity into some of Tides’ portfolio. About $20 million in equity was put across both deals.

Between 2021 and 2023, Tides became one of the biggest multifamily players in Texas, snapping up nearly 15,000 multifamily units in the Lone Star State when interest rates were low.

But, when rising interest rates ballooned its debt service, the firm struggled to pay off its debt. Earlier this year, the syndicator was shopping for cash to prop up 30 of its properties across the Sun Belt; that came after it modified an undisclosed number of troubled loans.

Tides had been on the hunt for preferred equity to prop up both Whispering Hills and Lawler East. But it wasn’t enough to stave off foreclosure.

And the hits keep coming.

Upcoming foreclosures

After losing Whispering Hills and Lawler East this month, Tides received three additional foreclosure notices on DFW properties. They’re scheduled to go up for auction in August.

The properties include: Tides at North Collins, a 296-unit property at 903 Ashford Lane in Arlington; Tides at McCallum South, a 72-unit property at 7720 McCallum in Far North Dallas; and Tides at Avril, a 175-unit property at 8841 Avril Court North in Western Hills.

The syndicate purchased Tides at North Collins and Tides at McCallum South in 2021; it added Tides at Avril in 2022.

Tides at North Collins was valued at $33.6 million in 2024, according appraisal district records. TIdes at Avril was valued at $16.8 million, and Tides at McCallum was valued at $6.8 million.

The foreclosure notices claim Tides defaulted on three mortgages connected to the properties: a $33.65 million loan from Acres Commercial Realty, a $35.9 million loan from an FS Investments REIT and a $20.4 million mortgage from Franklin BSP Realty Trust.

Before returning the keys to the two properties on Audelia Road, Tides faced foreclosure on three Fort Worth properties.

In May, the 140-unit Tides on Boca Raton South sold at a foreclosure auction for $11.25 million to BR South Asset Acquisition Company, an affiliate of Ballast Rock Capital. That works out to $80,400 per unit. The lender for Tides on Boca Raton South was ACM CRE Fund, an entity tied to Amherst Capital Management. The fund provided a $13.8 million mortgage for the property in June 2022.

Tides at Eastchase, at 8900 Randol Mill Road, has been scheduled to be sold at six auctions since last September, but each time, the sale was canceled. The lender for this property is TC Massey Oaks, an entity affiliated with Trez Capital, which provided a $40.5 million loan in October 2021. The property was valued at $43.4 million.

ReadyCap Commercial has tried to foreclose on Tides at Woodhaven the sale was canceled. The 332-unit property is located at 807 The Heights Drive in Fort Worth and was valued at $29.6 million in 2024. ReadyCap provided the $32.7 million mortgage.

Tides co-founders Sean Kia and Ryan Andrade did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Tides is not the only multifamily syndicator active in Texas that has landed in trouble, after beefing up portfolios of vintage apartment complexes while debt was cheap. GVA, another syndicator, is delinquent on more than $600 million in securitized debt and has lost a number of properties in Texas to foreclosure.