Houston apartment investor buys Santa Barbara Villas

BUYER: 3910 Santa Barbara Villas LLC (principal: Joseph Colangelo), Houston
SELLER: MB REO-FL Multifamily LLC
PROPERTY: 3910 Santa Barbara, various units, Cape Coral
PRICE: $1.05 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $190,000, February 2004 (includes additional parcels)
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Cape Coral Title, Cape Coral

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Joseph Colangelo of Houston purchased the 19-unit Santa Barbara Villas for $1.05 million.

The price equated to $55,263 per unit.

Built before the real estate crash as a condominium development, the 24,059-square-foot garden-style rental community features two two-story buildings on a 1.11-acre site. Santa Barbara Villas contains only two-bedroom/two-bathroom units with 1,200 square feet of space and covered parking. It had three vacant units at the time of the sale. The sole community amenity is a swimming pool.

The seller, an affiliate of Colony Capital, foreclosed on the 6-year-old development in January.

Richard Clarke of Lee & Associates handled the transaction.

“Interest in the market was overwhelming,” he says. “We had multiple offers. The buyer owns a number of multifamily properties. This will be his first property in Florida. The bulk of those properties are in California and Texas.”

The transaction was done as a 1031 tax-deferred exchange.

The new owner is considering make some of the units handicap accessible.