Newly built St. Petersburg apartments sell for $54 million
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Mar 9, 2015

Hines Co. has sold off Azure, a 308-unit apartment complex in St. Petersburg's Gateway area, for $54 million.

Passco Companies LLC, based in Irvine, Calif., said Friday it had acquired the property, which wrapped up construction in 2014, for $175,324 per apartment. It is 94 percent occupied, according to Passco.

The complex broke ground in early 2013, after Houston-based Hines paid $6.3 million for the Azure site. It was one of four new developments in the works in the Gateway area planned at the time, totaling 800 units.

At more than $175,000 per apartment, the sales price is above replacement cost, or what it would cost to build the property. When commercial properties sell above replacement cost, it signals a strong market and could prompt more activity - seeing that kind of profit is what entices other investors and developers.

"St. Petersburg's current multifamily inventory averages 20 years in age, and there are simply no other development sites remaining in the immediate area that would accommodate a garden-style, multifamily community like Azure," Gary Goodman, a senior vice with Passco, said in a written statement.

Ashley Gurbal Kritzer is a reporter for the Tampa Bay Business Journal.