Tampa Pines apartments sale price doubles in year

BUYER: Gomrasni MS LLC (managers: Jad Fourti and Mohamed Ghomrasni), Wesley Chapel
SELLER: 12908 15th LLC
PROPERTY: 12908 15th St. N. also known as 1433 Millerman Pines Drive, Tampa
PRICE: $1.06 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $540,000, March 2013
TITLE FIRM ON DEED: Majesty Title Services LLC, Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
A local investor with European backers purchased the 32-unit Tampa Pines apartment for $1.06 million.

The price equated to $33,000 per unit. That figure is lower than the average price per unit for multifamily space ($70.803) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

Built in 1960 and 1963, the 11-building Tampa Pines was 93% occupied at the time of the sale. The two-acre community features a laundry room.

The seller, Tampa-based Avesta Communities LLC, purchased the property when it was highly distressed and bank owned early last year. The firm upgraded all the property's units with new vinyl-wood flooring, cabinets, and appliances. It also improved the landscaping and repaired many of the windows, doors, roofs and stairwells.

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

“Sellers who purchased distressed assets during the downturn are now selling and realizing significant profits,” Ames says in a press release. “The buyer was a well-capitalized, first-time buyer of multifamily. Even 12 months ago this property would have struggled to secure financing but as the lending market continues to loosen and become more competitive, we are going to see the buyer pool expand while also becoming more competitive and ultimately pushing values higher.”

The buyer mortgaged the property to Bay Cities Bank for $750,000.