Nuveen buys Brandon apartments for $77.5 million

An affiliate of Nuveen Real Estate Management Ltd. has acquired the former Azola Apartments in the Brandon section of Tampa for $77.5 million, the latest in a string of multifamily purchases by the Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association investment arm.

Nuveen bought the 366-unit complex, on 25 acres at 9303 Cobalt Drive, from a group comprising Zom Living, the Mattoni Group and Clarion Partners LLC, of New York.

Tampa Brandon Apartments L.P., a group led by Zom, acquired the site in late 2016 for $4.2 million, according to Hillsborough County records.

The complex, which was completed last fall, has been rebranded as Sole at Brandon. Nuveen also owns the Sole at Casselberry community, in Orlando.

Rents in the community, where units measure 704 square feet to 1,467 square feet, range from $1,230 per month to $1,795 per month.

Carlos Burneo, a Nuveen senior director and head of the investment company’s residential practice group in Florida, says the company was drawn to Azola, in part, because of its close proximity to Interstate 75 and the Leroy Selmon Expressway.

He notes the complex “offers luxury interiors and resort amenities at mid-level rents in one of the fastest-growing submarkets in Tampa,” Burneo says in a statement.

Commercial real estate brokerage firm Newmark Knight Frank represented Tampa Brandon in the transaction.

As with many newly minted multifamily rental complexes, Sole at Brandon offers a host of amenities appealing to younger renters, such as a resort-style swimming pool with private cabanas; a clubhouse with cyber café; and a state-of-the-art fitness center complete with a yoga studio and boxing ring; and a game room with a virtual sports simulator.

Zom, in a news release detailing the sale, noted that Azola had strong absorption of about 30 units per month at “top-tier rental rates for the submarket.”

The purchase by Nuveen, which has in excess of $125 billion in assets under management, marks its third area multifamily acquisition since last summer.

In August 2018, the company spent $81.1 million to buy the Fusion 1560 apartments in downtown St. Petersburg, and earlier this year, it bought the 5 West Apartments in the Rocky Point section of Tampa for $62 million.

Burneo hints that further acquisitions may be in the offing, as well.

“We look forward to continue expanding our housing platform in the main Florida MSAs as part of our investment strategy,” he says in a statement.