Bluerock buys DeSota apartments in downtown Sarasota

Bluerock Real Estate LLC of New York has acquired the 10-story DeSota apartment building in downtown Sarasota for $80.3 million, a record amount for a multifamily rental project in the city and among the highest prices per unit among the sector’s transactions in Florida in the past year.

Bluerock bought the 180-unit project, which is roughly 90% occupied at rents exceeding an average of $2.40 per square foot, from a joint venture between El Paso, Texas-based Hunt Cos. Inc. and Carter USA, of Atlanta. Average Sarasota rental rates stand at about $1.45 per square foot.

The sale price amounts to a roughly 5% capitalization rate for Bluerock. Company officials did not return telephone calls for comment on the purchase.

The 1415 Second St. apartments opened in 2017 on the site of the former United Way Building downtown, with units averaging 1,139 square feet.

Bluerock is among the largest multifamily rental unit owners in the nation, with a portfolio in 13 states exceeding 26,000 units, according to the company’s website.

The 17-year-old company says its projects are valued at $4.1 billion.

In addition to Sarasota, Bluerock also owns apartments in Florida in Orlando, Davenport, Jacksonville and Clearwater, its website indicates.

Hunt Cos., in a statement, says the transaction was brokered by Walker Dunlop Investment Sales.

Curiously, no mention was made of Cushman & Wakefield’s Florida Multifamily Investment Sales team in Tampa, which brought the project to market for the sellers initially in late 2018. A spokeswoman for the brokerage declined to comment and a Hunt Cos. official who oversaw the DeSota project did not respond for comment.