"This sale represents a new price record per unit in Alachua County for non-student housing apartments," Robert E. Smith, president of Orlando-based Smith Equities Corp., tells GlobeSt.com. Average asking base rents are $916 per month. Mike Deree, a condominium conversion specialist at Smith Equities, listed and sold the property.

Bill Dobbins, vice president of Arlington Properties, says his investment group plans to convert the Links to condominiums with prices starting in the $120,000s. The sales program starts in February. Dobbins calls the Links "a superb property in an irreplaceable location." The Links development is located within the greater Haile Plantation PUD, west of Interstate 75 in Gainesville and is the last rental property in that PUD, Smith tells GlobeSt.com.

"The Links has always been a premium, highly successful property," Smith says. "Haile Plantation is approaching build-out, with the North Village coming online soon, including a Publix center and additional town homes and condominiums."

Bob Rowe, a principal in Green and Rowe Investments, says he has "spent the last 30 years building this community and I was very concerned that the person who purchased the Links had the same vision as I have for the community. As one of the few planned unit developments in Florida that was actually built and finished by the same developer over a period of 30 years, this sale marks a significant milestone for the Haile Plantation community."