Mallah's Equity Management Partners buys, renovating Boardwalk at Morris Bridge Road

BUYER: Boardwalk at Morris Bridge Road LLC, Largo
SELLER: Boardwalk at Morris Bridge LLLP
PROPERTY: 8800 Boardwalk Trail Drive, Temple Terrace
PRICE: $17.2 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $964,000, November 1999
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Green & Piotrkowski PLLC, Miami Beach

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
Equity Management Partners Inc. purchased the 146-unit, 580-bed Boardwalk at Morris Bridge Road student housing development for $17.2 million.

The price equated to $29,655 per student bed or $117,808 per unit. That figure is higher than the two-year average price per unit for multifamily space ($72,609) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

Constructed in 2001, the 18.89-acre property features eight residential buildings, a service repair shop and a clubhouse. The complex is located on the Hillsborough River near the University of South Florida and Hillsborough Community College. The majority, 144, of the units have four bedrooms and four bathrooms, and the final two have two bedrooms and two bathrooms units.

The development's occupancy was in the high 90% range at the time of the sale.

The new ownership says the property was in need of additional capital, renovation and marketing to compete with newer student housing.

“We plan to come in and spruce the property up,” says Ben Mallah, principal of Equity Management Partners. “It needed a good freshening up. We are comfortable with the price we paid; it leaves us room to invest some capital. We expect to be able to increase the value and the income.”

The firm has budgeted up to $1 million for the improvements.

The purchase entity, Boardwalk at Morris Bridge Road LLC, mortgaged the property to Wells Fargo Bank NA for $13.9 million.

Frank Carriera, Michael Regan, Alex Blagojevich and Krone Weidler in Marcus & Millichap's Tampa office and David Gaines and Greg Gonzalez in the firm's Chicago Downtown office handled the transaction.