Continental Realty Buys 390-Unit Luxury Community in Tampa

By Robert Demeter

The Grand Reserve at Tampa Palms (above) traded for $65.5 million.

Tampa, Fla.—Continental Realty Corp., a Baltimore-based real estate investment and management company, has acquired The Grand Reserve at Tampa Palms, a 390-unit apartment community located in Tampa’s Tampa Palms/Pebble Creek submarket. The asset traded for $65.5 million.

The seller, Prudential Real Estate Investors, was represented by Walker & Dunlop’s Investment Sales Team of Greg Engler, Pat Jones and Chris Chad. The community was acquired on behalf of Continental Realty Fund IV LP, which focuses on acquiring value-add retail and multifamily properties in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast United States. Walker & Dunlop originated a $45.9 million Freddie Mac acquisition loan for the buyer, according to Yardi Matrix. This represents the fourth residential community and eighth overall asset purchased by the fund.

Built in 1999 and located at 16616 Palm Royal Drive on approximately 41 acres, The Grand Reserve at Tampa Palms is a gated, garden-style community comprising 15 three-story buildings with one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom floorplans. The units range from 890 to 1,800 square feet, and 90 of the apartments have attached garages with reserved parking in front. Amenities include a clubhouse with a state-of-the-art health and fitness facility and resident lounge, an outdoor pool, sundeck and Jacuzzi, outdoor kitchen area, volleyball, tennis and basketball courts, as well as a children’s playground. Individual storage units, 800 parking spaces and a car care center are also integrated within the residential community.

The Grand Reserve at Tampa Palms’ swimming pool (pictured) rounds out the gated, garden-style community.

The property is located within the master-planned community of Tampa Palms and within one mile from Tampa Palms Elementary and Liberty Middle Schools. It’s also situated in close proximity to a number of office parks, including Highwoods Preserve Corporate Campus and Hidden River Corporate, as well retail and restaurant options.

“The Grand Reserve at Tampa Palms represented a tremendous opportunity to acquire an apartment community in one of the most desirable areas of Tampa,” J.M. Schapiro, CEO of Continental Realty Corporation, said in prepared remarks. “The property has performed extremely well historically, and we will have the ability to improve it further in a number of areas. We intend to renovate the apartment interiors with high-end finishes, as well as upgrade the common area amenities to make Grand Reserve the top luxury community in Tampa Palms. We were attracted to market fundamentals that include a 6.8 percent annual rent growth, total apartment occupancy that hovers above 96 percent and the relative lack of new apartment units. The area has tremendous schools and is close to major employers including USAA and the University of South Florida.”

Median home values contained within one mile from The Grand Reserve at Tampa Palms exceed $300,000. Within a three-mile radius of the project, the average household income is approximately $90,000, 33 percent higher than in the Tampa metropolitan statistical area.

Photos courtesy of Yardi Matrix