Cushman & Wakefield Negotiates $73M Sale of 2 FL Properties
Centennial Holding Co.’s acquisition of communities in Lakeland and Plant City positions the new owner to take advantage of commuting distances to nearby Orlando and Tampa.
Century Ariva Apartments
Cushman & Wakefield’s Florida Multifamily Group has negotiated the $72.6 million sale of two Florida apartment communities—Century Ariva Apartments in Lakeland, and Lakehouse Luxury Apartment Homes in nearby Plant City. Both properties are situated between Tampa and Orlando, Fla. along the I-4 corridor.
Luis Elorza, Brad Capas and Robert Given of Cushman & Wakefield’s Florida Multifamily Group represented Highland City Gardens, LLC in the sale of the 312-unit Century Ariva Apartments, located at 5190 Ariva Blvd., to Atlanta, Ga.-based Centennial Holding Co. Developed two years ago on a 40-acre site, Century Ariva provides a blend of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The average unit size is 1,119 square feet, and the average market rent $1,282. The property was 99 percent leased at the time of sale.
Elorza, Capas and Given also arranged the sale of the 125-unit Lakehouse Luxury Apartment Homes on behalf of Lakeside Garden of Plant City, LLC. The community was acquired for $18 million or $144,000 per unit by Centennial Holding Co. Lakehouse Luxury Apartment Homes was constructed in 2015 next to an approximately 20-acre lake on a 28-acre site at 3003 South Frontage Road in Plant City. This property features one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, with the average unit size 989 square feet and the average market rent $1,160. The asset was 98 percent leased at the time of sale.
Access to Tampa and Orlando
Because both Tampa and Orlando are within a one-hour drive of Century Ariva Apartments, the property caters to commuters working in either market. The location of the property puts residents within access to retail, dining, employment and nightlife.
Lakehouse Luxury Apartment Homes
Lakehouse Luxury Apartment Homes offers access to Interstate 4 at two nearby interchanges. Residents can readily commute to Tampa, Orlando and Lakeland-Winter Haven.
“Since Lakehouse was a smaller property, only 125 units, we faced a more limited market for likely buyers,” said Cushman & Wakefield executive director Luis Elorza. “By adding Ariva and selling the properties as a Central Florida portfolio, we were able to attract interest from a multifamily investor targeting larger transactions in Florida.”
Overcoming hurdles
One of the primary challenges facing the Cushman & Wakefield team was the comparatively small size of the Lakeland and Plant City markets. “Plant City and Lakeland are small markets considered by some investors ‘tertiary,’” said Brad Capas, executive director of Cushman & Wakefield’s Florida Multifamily Group, told MHN.
With many investors focused on major markets such as Tampa and Orlando, it is challenging to attract buyers to pursue deals in these smaller markets, according to Capas.
“We overcame this challenge by emphasizing their strategic location midway between two major metro areas”, Capas said. “This central location is appealing to residents who travel to both markets for work or otherwise enjoy the desirable suburban lifestyle these communities have to offer. The buyer understands these markets well. Furthermore, both properties were performing well and offer near term rent growth potential.”
In November, Cushman & Wakefield’s Florida Multifamily Group represented Mosaic Development in the sale of Mosaic at the Forum, a 252-unit apartment community in Fort Myers, Fla.
Images courtesy of Cushman & Wakefield’s Florida Multifamily Group
