Apartment Moves

Print this Article | Send to Colleague

Panhandle

         The city of Tallahassee may soon see a new entertainment and housing complex called "College Town" on the edge of Florida State University. Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet gave their unanimous approval to a land swap giving Seminole Boosters, Inc. the parcel. Construction could start as early as November.

         In exchange for $85,000 and just under one presently unused acre next to the campus, the university receives a two-acre parcel south of Doak Campbell Stadium that it plans to use for an enhanced recycling facility.

         Seminole Boosters, the fundraising arm that helps support Florida State athletics, is investing in the College Town project. It will eventually include 71 residential apartments and 60,000 square feet of retail space.

         The 96-unit 33 Home Stretch Lane Apts. in Crawfordville has traded for $2.38 million. The sales price equals $24,792 per unit and $25.20 per square foot. The multifamily asset was a foreclosed property. Franklin Street managing directors Darron Kattan and Bob Goldfinger, along with director Kevin Kelleher, represented the seller. Steve Sussman of Marcus and Millichap represented the buyer.

         "It would probably cost $100,000 a unit or so to build this today, so paying about 25% of that is very attractive," Kattan said.

Central Florida

         Two Orlando area apartment communities sold in late August and early September for a combined $47.8 million. Los Angeles-based Debra Avenue Apartments LLC, an entity related to real estate investment firm JRK Property Holdings, bought the 428-unit Gates of Harbortown Apts. in MetroWest on Sept. 8 from Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance for $40 million ($93,458 per unit). Located in west Orange County, the propertywas 94% occupied at the time of the sale.

         Kevin Judd, Richard Donnellan, and Patrick Dufour of Apartment Realty Advisors represented the seller in the deal.

         In addition, Tampa-based Woodbridge LLC bought the 168-unit Woodbridge Apts. near Winter Park on Aug. 31 from lender CSC Woodbridge Apts., Ltd. for $7.8 million ($46,428 per unit). The community was 91.7% occupied. Judd, Dufour, and Marc deBaptiste represented the seller in the transaction.

         ARA also brokered the sale of the 356-unit Preserve at Econ River, a garden-style community located in the East Orange/UCF submarket, one of the strongest in the region. Atlanta, GA-based JLC Southeast sold the property for  $20.75 million ($58,286 per unit) community to Atlanta-based Pollack Partners, Inc. and The Carlyle Group, a private equity fund. The Orlando, FL-based ARA sales team, led by Kevin Judd, Patrick Dufour, and Matt Wilcox, handled the transaction.

         Ann Arbor, MI-based McKinley bought the 304-unit Oakwood Apts. in Orlando on behalf of its client, Karlin Real Estate, from Con Am Management Corporation for $23.35 million, or $76,809 per unit. McKinley served as the real estate advisor and is the new property manager for the community. Oakwood Apartment Homes represents the fourth apartment acquisition by Karlin in central Florida. The property is located between Universal Studios and the Mall at Millenia.

         Marcus & Millichap brokered the sale of the 72-unit Lake Morton Apts. in Lakeland from Florida-based Lake Morton LLC to Florida Southern College for an undisclosed price. Michael P. Regan, Francesco P. Carriera, and Nicholas Meoli of M&M handled the transaction.

         Lake Morton Apartments was built in 1947 on approximately 2.71 acres sitting directly on Lake Morton, and consists of eight two-story buildings. Florida Southern will renovate and convert the  units into student housing.

Bay Area

         St-Lambert, Canada-based LSR Development bought the 366-unit Pine Harbour Apts. in Orlando from Equity Residential for $31 million ($45,355 per unit). ARA’s Kevin Judd, Marc deBaptiste, and Patrick Dufour represented the institutional seller in the transaction. The property, built in 1991, was 95% occupied at the time of the sale. 

         NAI Tampa Bay closed the sale of two multifamily development sites in Tampa.  The first site is at 1515 S. Howard Ave. and consists of four separate parcels totaling 1.76 acres. The property is set for development of a senior housing project expected to break ground in 4Q 2011 and traded for just over $1.9 million. The seller was Stratford on Howard Development, LLC, and the buyer was SHI Horizon Bay Memory Care, LLC.

         The second site consists of two parcels totaling 0.51 acres and is in the Channel District at 930 and 940 Channelside Drive, directly in front of The Place at Channelside condominiums. The site was purchased for $955,000 by the same group that bought 171 units in bulk at The Place in a bankruptcy auction nearly two years ago. The seller was Channelside Partners LLC, and the buyer was Channelside Place, LLC.

         Franklin Street Real Estate Services announced the sale of the Gables at Temple Terrace in Temple Terrace for $3.85 million, or $40,104 per unit and $40.50 psf. Kevin Kelleher, Robert Goldfinger, and Darron Kattan of Franklin Street represented both parties in the transaction. The seller was Coral Gables-based MCNA Properties, and the buyer is a Chicago-based investor.

         Gables at Temple Terrace was built in 1972 but renovated between 2007 and 2009.

         Garrison Developer Group of Florida announced the completion of The Preserve at Alafia, a 351-unit, waterfront luxury apartment in Riverview. The residences of The Preserve at Alafia are the first phase of a total $100 million three-phase multiuse project featuring the Shoppes at Alafia Crossing, which consist of retail and office space and a full-service Holiday Inn with a conference center and restaurant. Alafia Crossing is set to open in the fall of 2012.

The Preserve is managed by Patriot Residential Management Services.

         Marcus & Millichap brokered the sale of Melrose Place, a 22-unit vintage garden apartment community located in Tampa. The sales price of $300,000 represents $23.52 per square foot.

Casey Babb, CCIM, and Luis Baez, of Marcus & Millichap represented the Florida-based seller, a private investor.  The buyer is a private investor from Windermere. Melrose Place is a 1960s vintage community located in the University submarket of Tampa.

Southeast Florida

         Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions, LLC, a subsidiary of Balfour Beatty Capital Group, Inc., and Capstone Companies, joined the department of housing and residential life of Florida Atlantic University for a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the opening of a new on-campus student housing community at FAU’s Boca Raton campus.

         The Innovation Village Apts. were developed in a joint venture between Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions and Capstone, employing a public-private partnership model to develop and manage the project. The new student residential facilities are part of "Innovation Village," a recreation, residential, and retail initiative designed to enhance the traditional university experience at FAU. The Innovation Village Apartments will provide 1,216 beds for upper-division undergraduate and graduate students at the start of the fall semester.

         Accelerated construction on the $123 million project began in March 2010 and was delivered according to schedule for the start of the 2011-2012 academic year.

         Latin American investor Domus Group bought the 27-unit 1818 Meridian Avenue, a garden-style community on South Beach, from an undisclosed seller for $2.7 million. The property traded for less than a 3% cap on in-place numbers.

         Calum Weaver, co-chairs of the CB Richard Ellis Multi-Housing Private Capital Group in South Florida, negotiated the transaction on behalf of the undisclosed seller.

         The building is 89% occupied. High-end condos and hotels surround the property, which is adjacent to the Miami Beach Convention Center.

         Carrfour Supportive Housing purchased a formerly distressed apartment property with plans to renovate and deliver 56 low-cost units in 2012. Carrfour acquired Harvard House Apts. in North Miami Beach earlier this year with federal monies allocated through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2).

          The project carries a $5.6 million budget, including the initial purchase price of $1.2 million, $3 million in renovation and building costs, and another $1.4 million in relocation expenditures, planning and permitting expenses, and other soft costs. 

         The NSP program aims to revitalize neighborhoods that have been negatively affected by properties that were foreclosed upon or abandoned as a result of the recession. The HUD initiative - part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - granted nearly $2 billion to states, local governments, nonprofits and public and or private nonprofit entities on a competitive basis, with the purpose of rehabilitating distressed properties.

         All told, Carrfour was granted $17 million of the $89 million that has been directed to Miami-Dade County developments through the NSP2 program.

         Equity Residential bought the 236-unit Midtown 24 Apts. in Plantation for $69 million ($292,373 per unit) from Delaware-based Residences at the Fountains. The property was completed in 2010 by American Land Ventures LLC. The original debt for the building construction was $63.3 million.

         CBRE arranged $10 million in proceeds for the purpose of refinancing the debt on the The Blackstone Apts. in Miami Beach. Located at 800 Washington Ave., the apartment community is nested in a historic district in the heart of South Beach. It was originally built in 1929 and fully renovated in 1987. The 130-unit community was 99% occupied at the time of refinance.

         Financing terms of the loan include a seven-year fixed-rate term, two-years interest only, and a 70% loan-to-value ratio. Christopher Apone, Charles J. Foschini, and Christian R. Lee arranged the financing through Freddie Mac on behalf of Blackstone Equities, LLC.