Real estate investment group buys Courtyards of South Tampa

BUYER: Courtyards of South Tampa LLC (principals: James McLamore and Sterling McLamore Jr.), Tampa
SELLER: Bayside Ventures I LLC
PROPERTY: 3814 W. Euclid Ave., Tampa
PRICE: $4.05 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $5.2 million, March 2006
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Hill Ward & Henderson PA, Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Brothers and Tampa real estate investors James McLamore and Sterling McLamore Jr. are heading up an investment group that purchased the 71-unit Courtyards of South Tampa for $4.05 million.

The price equated to $57,042 per unit.

The 1.8-acre concrete-block single-building development features 56 one-bedroom/one-bathroom units and 15 two-bedroom/one-bathroom units. Although the community was built in 1969, more than 90% of its units were renovated within the last three years, with the majority getting new appliances and granite countertops. Amenities include a swimming pool and laundry facilities.

The property also benefited from the strong South Tampa rental market, where vacancy rates have dropped to around 4%. The complex was more than 94% occupied at the time of the sale.

“At that price per door, we felt it was a fair deal,” says Sterling McLamore. “We feel that the rental roll was undervalued.”

The new owner plans to continue to renovate the final unimproved units as they turnover.

The Courtyards of South Tampa marks the McLamores biggest rental acquisition in the Tampa Bay area to date. The brothers have primarily invested in single-family homes, but the declining return drew them to the apartment market.

“Over the last six months the [single-family] market has changed,” McLamore says. “It seems Blackstone [Group] and the other private-equity firms have artificially inflated the market. Homes that we were buying for $50,000 are going for $150,000, and they're selling.”

Kevin Kelleher, Darron Kattan, Bob Goldfinger and Zach Ames of Franklin Street Real Estate represented the seller.

The purchase entity Courtyards of South Tampa LLC mortgaged the property to USAmeriBank for $3.23 million.