Pair of Tampa apartment projects sell for $100 million plus

A pair of high-profile Tampa apartment projects have sold for in excess of $100 million, a sign of continued optimism in the city’s multifamily rental sector on the part of investors.

Novel Riverwalk, a 394-unit complex downtown at 109 W. Fortune St., sold for $123 million to Dayton, Ohio-based The Connor Group.

Completed last year by seller Crescent Communities, of North Carolina, the project — slated to be renamed Anchor Riverwalk by its new owner — sold for $312,000 per unit, one of the highest per-unit prices achieved in the Tampa area over the past five years.

Connor has renamed the five-story complex, where units measure 630 square feet to 1,515 square feet and rent for $1,500 to nearly $3,900 monthly, Anchor Riverwalk Apartments.

Sherry Blanc, a Connor Group regional vice president, says the company executed its first Tampa-area investment because of the property’s superior location, great floor plans and amenities.

“We consider it a trophy asset worth holding long term,” Blanc says, adding Connor Group plans to enhance security in the coming months.

In the other high-profile transaction, Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual purchased the 21-story 500 Harbour Island tower for $103.45 million.

The 235-unit, luxury tower’s sale is distinctive because it marks the first time that a Tampa-area rental project has sold for in excess of $400,000 per unit.

Completed in 2017, 500 Harbour Island’s units average 1,087 square feet and the project offers “five-star, hotel-style amenities.”

Northwestern Mutual, in a statement, says it was drawn to 500 Harbour Island because Tampa continues to emerge as a “premier live-work-play environment.”

The company, with more than $272 billion in assets, did not return a telephone call or email for comment on the acquisition. It has hired ZRS Management to oversee the project.

Commercial real estate brokerage firm JLL, in a Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. legacy deal in the works prior to HFF’s July 1 acquisition, negotiated the transaction for Tampa-based sellers Forge Capital Partners and Intown/Framework Group.

Framework Group leaders also did not return telephone calls regarding the disposition.

JLL Capital Markets’ team in the transaction was comprised of Senior Managing Director Matt Mitchell and Senior Directors Zach Nolan and Brett Moss.