Coral Gables-based Newport Property Ventures, headed by CEO Constantine Scurtis, paid Westbriar Properties of Tampa $5.1 million, or $46,364 per unit, for the 20-year-old, five-acre, 110-unit Pinetree Apartments at 7706 W. Idlewild Ave. and $15.81 million, or $42,500 per unit, for the 21-year-old, 20-acre, 372-unit, 21-building Lakeside Villas at 4920 N. MacDill Ave.

Jay Crotty, senior associate, Goldfinger-Johnson-Crotty Group in the Tampa office of Marcus & Millichap, tells GlobeSt.com occupancy at both properties were in the "high 80s to low 90s." Crotty's group represented both parties. Bob Goldfinger, Tim Johnson and Crotty make up the group.

The garden-style apartment properties were on the market for only two months. The broker says buyer and seller encountered no special environmental or governmental challenges before closing the transactions. Average monthly rents at Lakeside Villas are $475 to $705; at Pinetree, $485 to $695.

The 78,288-sf Pinetree Apartments sold for $65.14 per sf; the 231,888-sf Lakeside Villas went for $68.18 per sf. The per-unit and per-sf prices were about average for the age of the properties, Crotty says.

He tells GlobeSt.com Rodriguez and his associates are "actively acquiring apartment communities throughout Tampa right now." The broker adds, "Newport has a few other deals in the Tampa market, all of which they have acquired in the last 12 months."

Crotty says the total 482 units in the Newport-Westbriar deal is "one of the larger transactions this year in the Tampa market." He says the Rodriguez camp doesn't plan to convert the apartments to condominiums as numerous multifamily property buyers have done in the past 18 months.

The broker tells GlobeSt.com the deals were done at this time because the three owners that make up Westbriar Properties "felt like it was a great time to sell because values are so strong right now." Crotty says "pricing in the Tampa Bay market remains very strong because of two main factors--condo conversions and South Florida 1031 [exchange] money."

Crotty adds, "South Florida investors in Dade and Broward counties particularly, have made so much money so quickly over the past five to seven years that they are coming to Tampa in large numbers and viewing properties as cheap." The broker says South Florida investors "feel Tampa is headed for a tremendous run-up in pricing, just like they had in South Florida."