Willner Realty & Development buys Lincoln Shores apartments

BUYER: WRD Lincoln Shores LLC (principal: Benjamin Willner), Ardmore, Pa.
SELLER: Lincoln Shores Associates LLC
PROPERTY: 11601 Fourth St. N., St. Petersburg
PRICE: $47.17 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $24.2 million, January 2010
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Haynes and Boone LLP, New York City

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
Willner Realty & Development Co. purchased the real estate, furnishings and business operations of the 631-unit Lincoln Shores apartments for $53 million.

The real estate portion of the apartment development sold for $47.17 million, which equated to $74,754 per unit. That figure is in line with the average price per unit for multifamily space ($70,803) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

Constructed in 1984, the gated development features 50 two-story buildings on a 52-acre site. Amenities include a clubhouse, fitness center, five laundry facilities, three swimming pools, tennis, basketball, volleyball and racquetball courts and a car wash. The property also houses a 14-acre lake.

As of April, the apartment was 92.4% occupied according to the CoStar Group.

Officials for Willner Realty & Development had not replied to a request for comment as of deadline.

The seller, a joint venture of the New York City-based real estate investment firm The Praedium Group and Charleston, S.C.-based apartment company Greystar Real Estate, purchased the property in early 2010 for $24.2 million or $38,352 per unit. The former owner also made several interior, exterior and amenities upgrades prior to the sale.

“In our partnership with Praedium, we took advantage of the opportunity to acquire a superbly located asset in one of the region's best submarkets at an extremely attractive basis when apartment values were depressed,” Mark Hafner, senior managing director of Greystar, says in a press release. “In implementing our operational and capital improvements, we were able to increase [net operating income] during our ownership of the asset.”

The purchase entity, WRD Lincoln Shores LLC, mortgaged the apartment complex to Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC for $40.54 million.

Willner Realty & Development and its related companies own retail complexes, mid-rise office buildings, hotels, entertainment venues and apartment communities in Florida, Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Its portfolio covers more than 2.5 million square feet of commercial space, 800 apartment units and 850 hotel rooms.

The company's website says it is seeking to grow its portfolio of apartment units focusing on value-add developments with more than 250 units located along the East Coast.