Cove Apartments in Tampa sells for $96.5 million

In one of the largest sales of a vintage apartment complex along the Gulf Coast in the past decade, a New York-based investment firm has spent $96.5 million to acquire the Cove Apartments in the Westshore area of Tampa.

Gamma Real Estate’s purchase of the 689-unit, waterfront multifamily project comes as investors are more readily considering older complexes in quality locations.

Cove, at 4003 S. Westshore Blvd., was completed in 1979.

For the past four years, the complex had been owned by Laramar Properties, which bought it for $53 million in May 2014, property records show.

Rents at the Cove project range from $980 per month to $1,810 per month, according to Apartments.com.

Gamma officials did not return telephone calls for comment. The company owns a dozen apartment complexes in all in four states, including a pair in Florida, in Orlando and Jacksonville, according to its website.

The largest vintage apartment complex sale in the region occurred in March, when FLF Holdings purchased the 900-unit Carlton Arms of Bradenton, built in the 1970s, for $110.5 million.