Ybor City apartments sell for $61 million
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jun 27, 2024

A midrise apartment complex in Ybor City has sold for $61 million or $240,157 per apartment.

Blaze Capital Partners, based in Charleston, South Carolina, closed on the 254-unit Lector 85 on June 11, according to a Hillsborough County deed filed this week. The seller was the property's developer, Indianapolis-based Milhaus. When Lector 85 opened in 2021, Milhaus said the property cost $53 million to develop.

Fifth Third Bank provided a $38 million mortgage for the acquisition, property records show. The apartments are at 2409 E 2nd Ave., fronting Adamo Drive and near Coppertail Brewing and IKEA.

Blaze Capital Partners first entered the Tampa market in early 2020 with its purchase of Nine15, an apartment tower in downtown Tampa.

After a decade-plus boom period, Tampa Bay's apartment market is at a pivotal point. Most experts agree the market peaked in 2022. Some say the market has already hit bottom and is on an upswing — but financing and insurance costs remain major hurdles to most sales and development projects. Jade, an apartment complex in North Hyde Park, sold recently for $50.8 million.