Urban Style Flats trades for $46.25 million

Urban Style Flats, a 481-unit St. Petersburg apartment project, has been sold to a New York joint venture for $46.25 million, Pinellas County property records show.

The purchase by Novel Property Ventures and Atlas Real Estate Partners — the pair's first in Florida — continues a trend involving dense, urban multifamily rental properties along the Gulf Coast.

Investors like Novel and Altas have been drawn to the region primarily by job growth and population influx that have outpaced the nation as a whole.

Michael Regan, a senior managing director with Institutional Property Advisors, a division of commercial real estate brokerage firm Marcus & Millichap, in Tampa, says the deal will allow Novel and Atlas the “opportunity to decrease the gap between current rents and that of surrounding A product.”

Regan and IPA Senior Managing Director Frank Carriera represented seller Convexity Management LLC and procured Novel and Atlas.

Atlas and Novel are expected to embark on a capital campaign to enhance unit interiors and upgrade amenities.

Novel President Bennat Berger could not be reached for comment on the company's plans for the project, at 305 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. S., in St. Petersburg's burgeoning “Edge District.”

The 15-story apartment tower, adjacent to Tropicana Field, was initially completed in 1971. It was renovated in 2010, with the addition of a new parking garage, air conditioning systems and new unit decor.

Rental rates at Urban Style Flats range from $760 per month to $1,350 monthly, according to Apartments.com.