Peridot Palms apartments in St. Petersburg trade for $98.25 million

A Denver-area-based real estate investment trust has acquired a St. Petersburg apartment project for one of the highest amounts spent on a suburban multifamily rental complex in the region in the past five years.

UDR Inc., which began as United Dominion Realty Trust, bought the Peridot Palms apartments for $98.25 million, Pinellas County records show.

The deal marks the highest price paid for a multifamily rental complex in the county outside of the St. Petersburg urban core in at least the past year. The next-largest transaction involved Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association’s $81.1 million purchase of the Fusion 1560 apartments, at 1560 Central Ave. in St. Petersburg.

The largest deal involving any multifamily project was Brass Enterprises Inc.’s $107.6 million acquisition of the 348-unit Hermitage apartments, at 151 Seventh St., in downtown St. Petersburg, in February.

The 381-unit Peridot Palms, completed in 2018, had been owned by an entity controlled by Parkland Development Corp., a company led by Harold Tomlinson, its president and chairman. Forum St. Petersburg Ltd. bought the land for the complex, at 10601 Gandy Blvd., in early 2015 for $8.375 million, records indicate.

Officials from Highlands Ranch, Colo.-based UDR did not return telephone calls for comment on the Peridot Palms acquisition.

But its website says the company looks for “distinctive, high-quality apartment homes paired with exemplary service and amenities.”

“Our apartment communities are situated in some of the country’s most desirable locations,” UDR states. “Places that have it all: First-rate shopping, superb restaurants, lively nightlife options, access to thriving business centers.”

Rental rates in the luxury, four-story complex range from $1,275 monthly to $2,430 per month, and unit sizes range from 615 square feet to 1,441 square feet for a three-bedroom unit.

The gated Peridot Palms features amenities such as a two-story fitness center, a spin room, nail salon, kayak storage, boxing studio, putting green and wine storage, among more traditional amenities.

Among its regional holdings are the Breyley Apartments in Clearwater; Inlet Bay at Gateway, in St. Petersburg; Vintage Lofts at West End and Summit West, both in Tampa.

In addition to the Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater, where UDR owns eight rental communities in all, the company also holds apartment projects in Florida in Orlando and West Palm Beach, according to its website.

UDR’s latest St. Petersburg deal comes as the multifamily sector nationwide continues to post rental rate and occupancy gains. Multifamily rents rose $2 in February in the U.S. to $1,426 on average, a year-over-year growth of 3.6%, according to a recent report from real estate research firm Yardi Matrix.

The researcher indicates annual growth as measured in February was the highest it has been since late 2016.

“The latest numbers are evidence that the market has strength to perform well for a while, even if the economy or other commercial real estate segments slow down,” Yardi stated.

In the Tampa area, year-over-year rent growth for apartments have risen 3.8% as of February, one of the highest gains of any of the 30 metropolitan areas the firm tracks.