18-story apartment tower in downtown St. Pete sold for sizzling price per unit
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 12, 2018

A Houston-based real estate investment trust has acquired a downtown St. Petersburg apartment community for $127 million.

Camden Property Trust (NYSE: CPT), based in Houston, announced Thursday that it purchased the 18-story, 358-unit former AER Luxury Apartments at 303 3rd St. S. The acquisition brings Camden's Tampa Bay portfolio to seven properties.

The apartment tower was developed by Miami-based American Land Ventures, which pegged construction and development costs at $85 million. The building opened in 2016.

The purchase price breaks down to $354,748 per apartment - far surpassing the Tampa Bay region's previous record of $303,814 per door, which was set in 2014 by the building now known as 2Bayshore in downtown Tampa.

Camden said it plans to rename the property Camden Pier District.

"We are pleased to announce the acquisition of this premier asset located in one of our core markets,” Richard J. Campo, Camden chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "We believe the purchase price is 5 to 10 percent below current replacement cost, and the acquisition will produce a yield of approximately 5 percent in its first full year of stabilization after lease-up is completed later this year.”