Cortland Partners buys apartments for $78M

TAMPA — Cortland Partners purchased two waterfront apartment complexes and vacant land from UDR Inc. for $78.43 million.

The Atlanta-based multifamily company purchased the 400-unit Island Walk apartments for $50 million and 277 of the 320 condominium units in the Gallery at Bayport II for $28.43 million.

The total price equates to $115,852 per unit. That figure is higher than the average price per unit for multifamily space ($70,803) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

“We have property there already and like that submarket,” says John Builder, Cortland Partners' director of investments for Florida. “We looked at it as an irreplaceable location, which is what first got our attention.”

The two properties are across the street from each other and are operated together. The units were 97% to 98% occupied at the time of the sale. Cortland Partners will self manage the properties.

Cortland Partners plans to improve the interior units with granite countertops and new hardware and make other additions to their amenities. Current amenities include swimming pools, fitness and business centers, a boardwalk along the waterfront and 100 slips for boats up to 36 feet.

The purchases also include land on a saltwater canal next to the Gallery at Bayport II. The property features entitlements for another 186 units, which Cortland Partners plans to develop, Builder says. The project is currently being designed and will likely start in the first or second quarter of 2015.

The two purchase entities, Harborside FL Apartment Partners LLC and Harborside FL Condo Partners LLC, mortgaged the properties to CBRE Capital Markets Inc. for $63.11 million.