Despite Irma’s Wrath, $67M FL Apartment Deal Closes

By D.C. Stribling, Contributing Editor

Amberton Properties LLC has sold Amberton Luxury Townhomes in Naples, Fla., for $67 million to a New York investment group. One of the largest multifamily deals in Southwest Florida in the past year, the 28.7-acre property includes a 306-unit residential community.

But it was no ordinary deal. The sale closed on September 20. Originally slated to close on September 11, the sale was interrupted by Hurricane Irma, which swept through Collier County, Fla., the day before. Within nine days of the storm’s aftermath, the seller’s team assessed the hurricane damage to the property and made appropriate adjustments to the closing figures negotiated.

Unforeseen Circumstances

Akerman LLP, a U.S. law firm with clients in various parts of the Americas, represented the seller in the deal. According to Akerman, the firm worked through a compressed timeline to address special, unforeseen circumstances, including an assignment and assumption of an existing mortgage, a 1031 exchange, as well as a surprise access issue.

The company’s real estate partner Thomas Streit in West Palm Beach, Fla., led the transaction for Amberton Properties with assistance from real estate associate Kathryn Goldberger. “We were fortunate to have equally motivated parties and a high level of cooperation to bring this transaction through unusual challenges,” said Streit.

Amberton Properties is owned by affiliates of Amzak Capital Management and Home Dynamics Corp. in Boca Raton, Fla. Home Dynamics built the project as a condominium nearly 12 years ago, then converted it into apartments during the recession as one of the first developers to employ new legislation governing the termination of condominium regimes.

The buyer in the transaction was represented by Silberberg & Klein LLP and locally by Sterns Weaver. The sale was brokered by Tyler Minix of Apartment Realty Services.