Virginia firm buys St. Petersburg apartments for $85 million

General Services Corp. has acquired a 330-unit apartment project in a suburb of St. Petersburg for $85.14 million, the latest in a string of Gulf Coast acquisitions by the Richmond, Va.-based company over the past three years.

The Courtney at Bay Pines becomes the twelfth Florida complex in General Services’ portfolio, along with multifamily rental projects in Tampa, Brandon, Clearwater, Sarasota and Bradenton — where the company controls four complexes.

The company declined to comment on its purchase, the reasons behind it or any future plans for the property.

General Services bought the 4652 Miramar Drive complex in St. Petersburg, property records show, from Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., which also has been making multifamily rental moves of late.

In September, Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual spent $103.45 million to buy the 21-story 500 Harbour Island apartment tower in downtown Tampa. The sale of the 235-unit complex was significant because it marked the first time that an area multifamily rental project sold for in excess of $400,000 per unit.

Courtney at Bay Pines, a four-story complex where rental rates range from $1,295 per month to $2,060 per month, was completed in 2013.

Although the St. Petersburg complex marks its largest area acquisition to date, Courtney at Bay Pines is but one in a line of relatively recent purchases.

Late last year, General Services bought the 390-unit Grand Reserve at Park Isle, in Clearwater, for $78 million, Pinellas County property records indicate. The complex was completed in 1998.

And in 2017, company bought the 220-unit Marigot Bay complex in Sarasota County for $43.25 million and spent another $60 million for the 360-unit Hamlin at Lake Brandon community, in Brandon.

The bulk of its Florida portfolio remains centered in Bradenton, however, where General Services owns the Cypress Winds, Harbour Pointe, Kendall Ridge and Sun Chase apartment projects.