Apartment deals show no sign of abating

It's become a familiar refrain, a drumbeat almost, regarding multimillion dollar, multifamily rental transactions along the Gulf Coast and beyond.

Fueled by changing consumer preferences, in-migration and continuing fallout from the last decade's foreclosure crisis, apartment sales have demonstrated a resilience that has surpassed every other commercial real estate market class this cycle.

The latest example came late last month, when a Houston investment firm acquired the Tampa Woods Apartments for $58 million, and a Tampa-based multifamily firm spent $44.4 million to buy a pair of complexes in Orlando and Atlanta.

Ilan Investments' purchase of Tampa Woods, at 5207 Belle Chase Circle, marks its latest foray into the Gulf Coast apartment market. The company also owns complexes in Bradenton, Sarasota, Lakeland, Plant City, which are managed by the affiliated Adara Communities. Ilan also owns the Newport Apartments, in Tampa.

“The community has larger unit sizes than average for its age, and that attracted us,” says Brent Bunger, Ilan's chief operating officer and Adara's executive vice president. “We believe we can provide a long-term value-add. We want to improve the aesthetics inside.”

To that end, Ilan and Adara plan to invest roughly $2 million in the next few years to improve Tampa Woods' 444 interiors, which average 1,225 square feet and were completed in 1985. Rents there range from $938 a month to roughly $1,400 a month.

In all, Ilan owns 70 apartment properties in seven states, containing 17,000 units.

But Ilan isn't the only multifamily investor that's been active of late. Tampa-based Blue Rock Partners LLC recently completed purchases of the Silver Oak Apartments, in Orlando, and the Landings at Oak Hill, in Atlanta. Together, the two complexes will add 750 units to Blue Rock's 6,500-unit portfolio.

Block Rock intends to change the names of the complexes, to The Park at Highgate in Orlando and The Park at Morella, in Atlanta. As part of the rebranding, the company also plans to spend $5.75 million in exterior and interior upgrades.