Franklin Street Services, a full-service commercial real estate firm with offices in Tampa, Atlanta, Miami and Jacksonville, recently brokered the sale of 102 multifamily units for a total of $8.25 million.
The units are located in three different apartment communities in Miami, Hialeah, and Hollywood (Hollywood Beach). The sales were transacted by the team of Deme Mekras, Elliot Shainberg, and David Reinke. All of the buyers were foreign investors.
In Hialeah, Franklin Street represented the seller of the Jaclyn Apartments, a two-building, 72-unit complex located at 1315 and 1345 West 29th Street. The purchase price was $6.05 million or $84,027 per unit. The seller is Jaclyn LRP. The buyer was a Panamanian investor whose identity was not disclosed.
“There is a lot of investor demand for apartment buildings of 50-plus units in Hialeah, and Jaclyn was one of those rare opportunities,” said Deme Mekras, regional managing partner of Franklin Street’s Miami office. “We generated eight written offers within three weeks of going to market, and as a result of the competition, the seller was able to achieve a premium price with tight terms and an expeditious closing.”
In Miami, Franklin Street’s South Florida Multifamily team arranged the bulk sale of 20 condominium units in a 68-unit building called Garden View located at 11000 SW 200th Street. Franklin Street represented the seller, Unique Yidios LLC, and buyer, Fly Away 2012 LLC. The sales price was
$1,050,000 or $52,500 per unit. The buyer was from Buenos Aires, Argentina and purchased the properties all cash.
“Because the owner sold the units in bulk, we were able to secure more money per unit than other individual sales in the building,” said David Reinke, investment associate in Franklin Street’s Miami office. Reinke also noted that the buyer plans on renting out the units.
In Broward County, Franklin Street represented the seller of a 10-unit apartment building located at 343 Van Buren Street on Hollywood Beach. The sales price was $1,150,000 or $115,000 per unit. The seller was 720 Property LLC and the buyer is Van Buren Holdings Inc., also backed by a foreign investor who purchased the property all cash.
The apartment building is located just a block from the Atlantic Ocean and within a half-mile of the Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort which is currently under construction.
“With proximity to the water and a lot of redevelopment taking place, demand for multifamily investment is substantial right now on Hollywood Beach,” said Elliot Shainberg, senior director of Franklin Street’s Miami office.
“Multifamily investment continues to be hot in South Florida,” said Mekras. “We’re still seeing a lot of cash buyers from overseas who see a lot of opportunity here and regard U.S. real estate as a safe haven for capital. Many of them are coming from highly unstable economies and, as a result, often see greater value in our property than local investors.”
Mekras and his team anticipate strong demand for South Florida multifamily through 2014.
