Aragon Makes First Foray into Florida With Apartment Buy

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Orlando—Aragon Holdings has bought the 373-unit Abaco Key Apartment Homes near the Walt Disney World Resort, representing an investment of about $250 million, according to the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based company. Equity for the transaction was provided by the Aragon Multi-Family Cash Flow Fund, a private equity fund formed to facilitate the company’s acquisition activity.

Abaco Key, built in 1995 and extensively renovated in 2010-2011, is currently 95 percent occupied. Amenities include a pool with cabanas and sundeck, playground, fitness center, tennis court, basketball court, clubhouse with coffee bar, business center and dog park. Apartments feature fully renovated kitchens and patios or balconies.

The company has bought apartment properties totaling about 4,000 units nationwide during the last four years, but the Orlando purchase is its first in Florida. Aragon president Larry Clark says that the company is on the lookout for more Florida multifamily, especially in markets such as Orlando and Tampa, which have seen significant population and job growth lately, despite the malaise of the wider Florida economy.

Orlando, for example, has added over 16,000 jobs annually for the past decade, according to the Census Bureau. The population of the Orlando metro area is over 2.1 million, up by more than 500,000 during the past decade.

There will be plenty of competition for Orlando-area multifamily assets in the near- to mid-term. Investment specialist Marcus & Millichap notes in its latest market report that “deal flow is surging and competition continues to intensify, with more offers on listings now than at any time since the economic downturn took hold. Even… assets which were not being considered by investors two years ago are generating multiple offers, and deals are being struck a cap rates in the 9 percent range.”