Investment firm Axonic Capital buys Bella Rosa, Park Place apartments

BUYER: Deleon Street Apartments LLC (manager: Florida Rental Specialists LLC), New York City
SELLER: Park Place Apartment Properties LLC and Bella Rosa Apartments LLC
PROPERTY: 4615-4775 and 4620-4666 Deleon St., Fort Myers
PRICE: $19.25 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $7.4 million, June 2013 and $6 million, December 2011
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Macfarlane Ferguson & McMullen, Clearwater

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
New York City-based trading and investment firm Axonic Capital purchased the 160-unit Bella Rosa Apartments and 177-unit Park Place Apartments for $19.25 million.

The price equated to $57,122 per unit. That figure is less than the average price per unit for multifamily space ($70,191) in Southwest Florida, according to the CoStar Group.

Both properties are located on Deleon Street less than a tenth of a mile from Colonial Boulevard and U.S. 41. Although the two properties were owned by the same seller, they were operated separately and had different property management teams.

Built in 1979, the 123,780-square-foot Bella Rosa Apartments consists of 12 two-story residential buildings and a one-story clubhouse. Amenities include two laundry facilities, a fitness center, playground, dog-walking area, picnic/barbecue grilling areas, a business center, clubhouse and swimming pool.

The 158,000-square-foot Park Place Apartments was built in 1973 and has 13 two-story residential buildings. It features a laundry facility, fitness center, playground, picnic/barbecue grilling areas and two swimming pools.

The two properties had a combined average occupancy of 96% at the time of the sale.

Michael Regan and Frank Carriera, vice presidents of investments in Marcus & Millichap's Tampa office, handled the transaction.

Regan says apartments in Fort Myers, such as these, are in extremely high demand from investors, primarily because of the low inventory. Rents have also been rising. The new owner is likely to consolidate operations of the two properties, Regan says, and perform some additional renovations.

The purchase marks Axonic Capital's largest acquisition to date in Southwest Florida. The investment firm already owns other apartments in the area, single-family homes and retail. Axonic and its affiliates currently manage about $2.4 billion in assets.

The purchase entity, Deleon Street Apartments LLC, mortgaged the properties to Pillar Multifamily LLC for $13.48 million.

This article has been updated to correct the previous purchase price of the property and the mortgage amount.