Dated Florida Apartment Complex Doubles Value in Six Years
New Owner Plans Renovations at Oak Ridge Apartments

By Staff Report
CoStar
Published: Sep 12, 2019

An apartment community near St. Petersburg, Florida, has traded hands for twice what the seller paid just six years ago as investors continue to search for older rentals in need of renovation.

Entities headed by Sion Saparzadeh of Rosyln Heights, New York, bought the Oak Ridge Apartments in Largo, Florida, for $15.9 million, or about $116,000 per unit, from a partnership led by HKSK Corp. The New York-based seller paid $7.7 million, or about $56,000 per unit, in 2013, according to CoStar records.

The 137-unit multifamily complex at 13333 Ridge Road was built in 1974.

With value-add properties, owners launch renovations to raise rents and increase values, though competition among investors for those types of transactions is strong because of limited supply. Oak Ridge drew more than 225 registered bidders, according to Cushman & Wakefield, which represented the seller in the deal. No buyer's broker was listed on the sale.

Most of the units have been partially renovated, but the new owner plans to complete the work and upgrade the amenities, which includes two swimming pools with clubhouses, the brokerage firm said in a statement.

Oak Ridge, which includes apartments as well as two-story rental townhomes, is about 98% occupied with an average monthly rent of $1,026, CoStar data shows.

The complex is in the Central Pinellas County market, which receives spillover demand from Downtown Tampa and South Tampa, according to the latest report from CoStar Market Analytics. Development in Central Pinellas in poised to increase supply by more than 15% over five years, but the upward pressure has led to only a small uptick in the average vacancy from the all-time low, the report noted.

"Fueled by resilient demand, annual rent growth has bounced back in 2019 after a brief cooling period,” CoStar market analysts wrote.