Passco spends $104 million for two area complexes

Irvine, Calif.-based Passco Cos. LLC has acquired a pair of Class A, new Gulf Coast apartment complexes for $104.7 million.

In Estero, the company invested $54.97 million to buy the former Springs at Estero complex, containing 260 residences, from developer Continental Properties Co., of Wisconsin.

Continental completed the 11221 Everblades Parkway complex — now known as Longitude 81 — last year, after buying the 18-acre site for $6.65 million in September 2014, according to Lee County property records.

The complex is roughly two miles from Florida Gulf Coast University, near several health care offerings and the world headquarters of auto rental giant Hertz Corp.

In the Riverview section of Tampa, meanwhile, Passco has closed on a $49.7 million acquisition of the 250-unit Pearce at Pavilion community. Sellers Adler Group and Mattoni Group completed the 3603 Pavilion Palms Center complex last year, as well.

Colin Gillis, vice president of acquisitions for Passco in the Southeast, says the company was drawn to the complexes because of the region's steady influx of population, job growth since 2015 and future growth potential.

“The entire west coast of Florida, from Tampa to Naples, is performing exceptionally well,” Gillis says. “On paper, that part of the world is on fire. In both cases, we've purchased what we consider to be the best-located properties, with a range of exceptional amenities.”

Gillis adds that of the 50 markets Passco tracks nationwide, Lee County is among the fastest growing, with barriers to entry to new development that make competition relatively scant.

The same is true in Tampa, where 55,000 jobs have been added since 2015 and population is expected to jump another 8% by the end of 2018.

And, despite a plethora of new apartments that have been built since 2012, for instance, Tampa has only one-third to one-half of the multifamily development pipeline of other Southeast cities such as Atlanta or Charleston, S.C., Gillis says.

“We consider Pearce at Pavilion to be a very good affordable option to some of the downtown offerings out there, and it's just 10 minutes from downtown Tampa and 15 minutes to Westshore,” he says. “And it has some of the biggest wow factor of any property we've bought.”

The acquisitions take Passco's holdings along the Gulf Coast to more than 2,000 units. Last fall, the company spent $75 million to buy the ParkCrest Landings apartments, in Bradenton. That 17-building, 70-acre complex was developed adjacent to a nature preserve, also with a host of amenities.

Passco owns properties in 17 states, but holds the highest concentration of apartments — with eight complexes — in Florida, according to its website. In all, the company has invested more than $3.2 billion since its inception.