Ontario-based REIT buys Mallory Square Apartments

BUYER: Morguard Mallory Square Apartments LLC (principals: Beverley Flynn, John Talano, Guy Cheramie and Robert Kutcher), Mississauga, Ontario
SELLER: TMP Mallory Square LLC
PROPERTY: 11306 Mallory Square Drive, Tampa
PRICE: $43.78 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $38.75 million, December 2010
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Morrison & Foerster LLP, Palo Alto

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: A trust of Mississauga, Ontario-based Morguard purchased the 383-unit Mallory Square Apartments for $43.78 million.

The price equated to $114,333 per unit.

Built in 2005, the Class-A rental property features a pool and spa, 6,500-square-foot clubhouse with a fitness center, indoor basketball court and billiards room. Units range in size from 748 to 1,307 square feet and start at a little more than $900 a month. The three-story, 386,800-square-foot development occupies a 21.75-acre site.

Morguard's Morguard North American Residential Real Estate Investment Trust purchased the property along with five other U.S. multi-unit residential properties from an institutional fund sponsored by Pearlmark Real Estate Partners LLC, formerly Transwestern Investment, for $218 million. The other properties were located in Denver; Cary, N.C. and Atlanta.

The sale marked a quick flip for the Pearlmark fund, which bought the apartment complex in late-2010. The $5.04 million gain equated to a 7.69% premium on Pearlmark's initial investment in the property.

Morguard officials did not reply to a request for comment prior to deadline.

Morguard is a public real estate investment and management firm. Its portfolio covers 53 million square feet of commercial space, and more than 14,000 multi-unit residential suites.