Related Group Takes New Tampa Apartments to Market

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Tampa, Fla.—Related Group has tapped Georgia-based Engler Financial Group, an investment firm specializing in multifamily deals, to take Pierhouse at Channelside to market. The property is a 356-unit apartment community in the Channelside District of downtown Tampa, Fla.

Designed by MSA Architects and completed by Miami-based Related Group this year, Pierhouse is comprised of four four-story buildings with city and water views. The property also features a nautical-themed urban linear park featuring outdoor art curated by the project’s landscape architect. Interior designers RTKL designed its interiors and common spaces.

Amenities include a two-story fitness center, resort-style pool with a grotto-style spa, a clubhouse with fireplace and flat screen TVs, and a number of courtyards with outdoor flat screen TVs, hammocks and fire pits. The community also has two four-story parking structures housing 625 parking spots.

Engler CEO Greg Engler says that the property will be able to take advantage of the area’s job creation, especially by companies moving their operations to downtown Tampa. So far in 2013, Tampa has experienced the creation of 41,000 new jobs, he notes, “the highest in the state of Florida,” Engler asserts.

Tampa’s apartment market is likewise booming. According to investment specialists Marcus & Millichap, apartment vacancies in metro Tampa will end this year at 5.3 percent, the lowest level in seven years. At the end of 2012, the vacancy rate was 6.7 percent. Effective rents are on track to climb 4.2 percent in 2013 to $909 per month, the company predicts.