As demand soars, investors pay record-breaking prices for Tampa Bay apartments
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 14, 2022

Tampa Bay's apartment market has seen incredible growth in the last seven years.

In 2014, Crescent Bayshore became the first market-rate apartment building to sell for more than $300,000 per unit. Fast-forward to the end of 2021, and an apartment community in downtown Tampa sold for more than $560,000 per apartment.

Apartment demand is driven by job creation and population growth. Investors and developers bet on markets where they see boom times ahead — and while Tampa Bay has been hot for several years, prices soared in 2021 as an influx of residents from the Northeast and Midwest drove unprecedented demand and record-high rents.

Here's a look back at the record-breaking sales from this real estate cycle:

$303,814: The price per unit that Crescent Bayshore in downtown Tampa sold for in 2014

$354,4789: The price per unit that Camden Pier District in downtown St. Petersburg sold for in 2018

$440,212: The price per unit that 500 Harbour Island in downtown Tampa sold for in 2019

$479,076: The price per unit that Icon Central in downtown St. Petersburg sold for in August 2021

$562,500: The price per unit that Manor Riverwalk in downtown Tampa sold for in December 2021

North Hyde Park

Perhaps no series of transactions better characterizes Tampa's rise than the apartments that Atlanta-based RangeWater Real Estate has built and sold off in North Hyde Park.

2014: NoHo Flats sells for $184,084 per apartment

2018: Havana Square sells for $212,000 per apartment

2021: The Gray sells for $409,451 per apartment