Greystar to Manage Villa Grande

Greystar Real Estate Partners, the nation's largest residential, multifamily manager in the U.S., is poised to take over property management of the four-story Villa Grande at Sarasota later this month.

The shift at the 4 Maggie Lane property, a 62-plus community at Fruitville and Beneva roads in Sarasota, could also coincide with a sale of the 108-unit complex, according to sources with knowledge of the sale, though the transaction is not yet reflected in Sarasota County property records.

LeCesse Development Co., of Orlando, completed Villa Grande in 2011, after a plan to develop for-sale condominiums on the 5.3-acre site fell victim to the economic recession of the last decade.

Residents aren't expected to see any change when Greystar's Tampa office takes over management duties at the $25 million complex.

Sal Lecesse, owner of the development firm that bears his name, could not be reached for comment on the change, and Greystar officials did not return telephone calls for comment.

Greystar already manages thousands of apartment units along the Gulf Coast, in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Bradenton and Lakeland. In Sarasota, the company currently manages the Summer Cove Apartments, on Lockwood Ridge Road, according to its website.

The Charleston, S.C.-based company also is building a 286-unit complex just outside downtown Sarasota to be called the Elan Rosemary Apartments, on Lemon Avenue. It hopes to have the $33.6 million project completed and ready for occupancy in early 2018.

For the past six years, Greystar has topped the National Multifamily Housing Council's annual list of largest property management firms, according to the trade group. At the start of 2016, Greystar managed roughly 415,000 units nationwide.