With first $100M sale since the pandemic began, Tampa Bay's apartment market is 'outpunching its weight'
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Nov 20, 2020

Several major deals in recent weeks illustrate the strength of Tampa Bay’s apartment market — which is still making up for time lost to the novel coronavirus pandemic earlier this year.

Apartment sales and new developments are directly tied to confidence in the region’s job market. Job creation is what drives demand for new apartments and makes investors confident enough to buy existing properties. Despite the uncertainty posed by Covid-19, the multifamily sector still seems bullish on the Tampa Bay area. In October, multifamily sales in the Tampa area accounted for 2 percent of all U.S. transactions, according to data from CoStar Group Inc.

“Two percent sounds small, but Tampa way outpunched its weight,” said Brian Alford, CoStar’s director of market analytics for Florida. “In other words, Tampa is vastly outperforming most national markets.”

Trellis on the Lakes, a large complex in St. Petersburg, sold for $114 million on Nov. 5, marking the first $100 million sale in the region since the pandemic began. (In early March, Nine15, a high rise in downtown Tampa, sold for $120 million.) The $76 million sale of Tapestry at Cypress Creek was the second largest trade in Pasco County’s history, according to CoStar, and the highest trade on a price-per-unit basis.

It’s not just investment sales that are active; development interest remains strong, too. One of the region’s most active developers, Charlotte-based Crescent Communities, has proposed a luxury community on the Westshore waterfront.

“Tampa’s multifamily sales volume is clearly accelerating,” Alford said. “This is not the case in many markets. To pick on a nearby comparison, Orlando saw a decline from second to third quarter and has seen few trades since March — a stark contrast to Tampa.”

Stoneweg US, an investment firm based in St. Petersburg, was the buyer of Trellis at the Lakes. But Stoneweg’s vision extends well beyond its own hometown: In late October, the firm said it was closing its SW Fund I RE Fund with a total capital raise of$26 million — exceeding its capital target by $1 million.

t plans to acquire 20 properties within the next 18 to 24 months. The new fund, Chief Investment Officer Ryan Reyes said, will allow Stoneweg to expand beyond the value-add sector, in which it buys properties, makes improvements, and sells them at a profit.

“While value-add will continue to play a key part in our acquisitions, SW Fund I will focus on institutional grade assets in high-growth markets experiencing positive net migration at a rapid pace,” Reyes said in a statement.

Nursing school signs lease

Another nursing school is moving into the Tampa Bay region.

Herzing University has signed a deal for 30,000 square feet in Sabal Corporate Center, the school said. The 10-year lease is for the entire third floor and part of the first floor of the Sabal Corporate Center building. Herzing will begin renovations in early 2021, a spokeswoman said, and the space will include “modern classrooms and common areas as well as state-of-the-industry nursing skills labs and simulation learning technology.”