Apartment sales in Tampa Bay total hundreds of millions of dollars in year-end blitz
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 5, 2021

The novel coronavirus pandemic may have briefly paused Tampa Bay's apartment market — but the year ended with a bang.

At least five multifamily properties in the Tampa area changed hands in eight-figure deals in late 2020, on the heels of the market's first $100 million sale since the pandemic began.

Here is a breakdown of some of the biggest apartment deals that closed in the last six weeks of the year:

Bainbridge Ybor City: GMF Capital LLC, based in New York paid $58 million or $241,667 per unit for Bainbridge Ybor City, which was built in 2017. The seller was the property's original developer, Wellington-based Bainbridge Cos. Ronald Meyerson of Cedano Realty Advisors arranged the off-market transaction.

Swan Lake Apartments: This 640-unit property sold for $82.5 million or $128,905 per unit to Covenant Capital Group, which has plans to renovate the apartments and raise rents. Mike Donaldson and Nick Meoli of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller, Eastern Properties.

Radius Palms: Atlanta-based Radco, which is selling off properties in anticipation of a 2021 buying spree, sold the 540-unit Radius Palms for $82.5 million or $152,777 per apartment, according to Hillsborough County property records.

Sunstone Palms: Radco also sold off Sunstone Palms, a 536-unit property it owned since 2017, for $59 million or $110,074 per apartment, according to Hillsborough County property records. The buyer is California-based Sunstone Properties Trust, which specializes in value-add properties.

A Newmark Group team comprised of Patrick Dufour, Ryan Crowley, Andrew Visnick and Pibu Aulakh represented Radco in both transactions.

Century Cross Creek:This 297-unit community sold in late November for $55.5 million or $187,000 per apartment. Luis Elorza and Justin Hofford of with NorthMarq Tampa’s investment sales team arranged the sale. Robbins Property Associates was the buyer; NorthMarq represented the seller, Centennial Holding Co.

Meridian Luxury Condominiums: A fractured condominium in Town 'n' Country sold for $11 million or $100,000 per unit in late November. An affiliate of ESG Kullen acquired 110 of the 176 units in Meridian Luxury Condominiums in an off-market transaction brokered by Vertica Partners LLC. The seller was CCP Fund VI LLC. A fractured condo is a multifamily building in which some units are owned individually as condos and others are operated as rentals by one owner.