Insula Cos. expands to 20 properties, buys Bryan Dairy Place, Forest Creek

BUYER: FL Bryan Dairy LLC (Insula Apartment Management LLC), Sarasota
SELLER: Bryan Dairy Place Apartments LLC
PROPERTY: 6701 Bryan Dairy Road N., Pinellas Park
PRICE: $9 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $4.99 million, August 2012

BUYER: FL Forest Creek LLC (Insula Apartment Management LLC), Sarasota
SELLER: Forest Creek Apartments LLC
PROPERTY: 13000 and 13500 Rodgers Ave., Largo
PRICE: $7.6 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $4.53 million, March 2013
TITLE FIRM ON DEED: Sherlock Title LLC, Sarasota

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
Sarasota-based Insula Cos. purchased the 96-unit Bryan Dairy Place Apartments and the 104-unit Forest Creek Apartments for a combined $16.6 million.

The combined price equated to $83,000 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.

The same seller owned the two properties, which are roughly a mile apart. To the south, Bryan Dairy Place is the bigger of the two apartments and features two-bedroom and two-bathroom units. Forest Creek primarily has one-bedroom units.

“Bryan Dairy is a little more tucked away and has more of a condo feel,” says Jeff Talbot, the principal responsible for acquisitions, disposition and financing for Insula. “The average unit size is 925 square feet. Forest Creek has a more traditional apartment feel ... units average 770 square feet.”

The two apartments were more than 95% occupancy at the time of the sale.

The buyer has budgeted $300,000 per apartment community to make improvements and upgrades.

The purchase entities, FL Bryan Dairy LLC and FL Forest Creek LLC, mortgaged the properties to Berkeley Point Capital LLC for a combined $13.28 million.