Tampa Apartment Complexes Snag New Owners

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

Buyers are snapping up apartment complexes in Tampa, finding opportunity among top-level housing and lender-owned properties.

Trading hands for the second time in the past year was The Estates at Tuscany Ridge. Seller Blue Granite Partners L.L.C. hired Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. to market the property, the same firm that mediated the sale of the 450-unit multi-housing community in 2010 on behalf of previous owner Fidelity Investments. Neither Blue Granite Partners nor the new owner, Camden Property Trust, would disclose the value of the deal.

Set on the south side of Tampa’s Crosstown Expressway, nine miles from downtown, The Estates at Tuscany Ridge comprises 23 buildings with one-, two- and three-bedroom units, with an average of 1,126 square feet. Completed in 2007, the 450-unit Class double-A community is now 95 percent leased.

A foreclosure property also sold: St. Petersburg’s Skyline Fifth Avenue Apartments, a 178-unit lender-owned apartment complex, went for $17.1 million, or $96,208 per unit. Both seller and buyer—a Canada-based investment group—were represented by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services’ Frank Carriera, a senior associate with the Tampa office, and Michael Regan, associate vice president of investments.

The lender began foreclosure proceedings in November 2010 with the intention of selling the loan, according to Carriera. “However, there were some significant hurdles in the transaction, and the buyer and seller eventually decided to make this a real estate transaction instead of a loan sale.” The seller foreclosed in May 2011. The buyer financed the sale with a 68.6 percent LTV bridge loan.

The complex, built in 1962, underwent a $30 million renovation in 2007 and now features vaulted ceilings, dual-pane glass and refinished kitchens on top of shared amenities that include a swimming pool, a fitness center, a business center and a clubhouse. Close to downtown St. Petersburg, at 441 33rd St. North, the property encompasses 169,286 square feet.

Rounding out the apartment sales of the past week, Intown Housing L.L.C. purchased the historic Bay Villa Apartments for $1.5 million. The three-building complex, located in the Hyde Park/South Howard neighborhood, has recently been renovated and has attracted over 12 written offers, credited to its location and future upside potential. Consisting of 24 units, the complex was built in 1924, but currently one-third of the apartment homes are condo-quality, with new floor plans. Casey Babb, senior investment specialist, and Luis Baez, investment specialist from Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services’ Tampa team represented both the seller, a private investor, and the buyer, a local partnership.