HGI Acquires Jacksonville Property

Ascend at Durbin Creek is located in St. Johns, Fla., outside South Jacksonville. Image courtesy of Harbor Group International

Harbor Group International has acquired Ascend at Durbin Creek, a newly built 350-unit multifamily property located in St. Johns, Fla., a suburb of Jacksonville.

Institutional Property Advisors facilitated the sale and the financing of the transaction, with Erik Bjornson, Tyler Nilsson and Kyle Kundiger brokering the sale and Brian Eisendrath, Cameron Chalfant, Tyler Johnson, Jake Vitta and Jesse Zarouk sourcing the debt.

The property is 86.5% occupied as of May 2024 and has averaged 20 new leases per month during its lease up over the past year. HGI anticipates that Ascend at Durbin Creek will maintain a strong renter base and achieve steady rent growth as the area continues to attract new residents.

North Florida market stays busy

Yardi Matrix reports that Jacksonville is the 43rd largest multifamily market with 120,811 completed units and 42,254 units in development, 14,630 of which have already broken ground. New lease asking rents are at $1,495, down -3.7 percent from the previous year, placing Jacksonville at 117th overall in year-over-year rent growth. Last year was the city’s strongest for deliveries in the past decade, according to Yardi Matrix data.

Ascend at Durbin Creek is proximate to Jacksonville’s major employment centers, including Flagler Center and Southside, which together provide 126,000 jobs. Notable employers in the area include major financial institutions like Deutsche Bank, Baptist Health South, Citi, JPMorgan and Bank of America. Pavilion at Durbin Creek, an open-air retail strip center with over 700,000 square feet of retail, is located nearby.