NORTH MIAMI, FL-Irvine, CA-based Atherton Newport Investments marks its first foray into South Florida with the acquisition of Miami Garden Villas, a 376-unit multifamily complex at 12 NE 188th St. The price tag is nearly $27.6 million, or just above $73,324 a unit.

The complex consists of 92 individual four-plex buildings that span seven contiguous blocks. It was constructed between 1969 and 1973 and contains six studio, 212 one-bedroom and 158 two-bedroom units. The average unit size is 681 sf, and the average rent rates are in the $600-per-month range. ANI, a multifamily investment and management company, plans to keep it as a rental property.

"The property offers significant upside potential and can support higher rents, particularly if ANI performs capital improvements," says Brad Capas, senior director of the local office of Cushman & Wakefield. Capas, Rosendo Caveiro, also a senior C&W director, and Charlie Exelbirt, an associate, represented the seller, identified as Miami Garden Villa Properties.

The brokers see this transaction as an indication of a growing trend. "In the past two years the market was dominated by condominium converters that primarily targeted class A and B properties that could be sold out in an accelerated timeframe, which removed many of these properties from the rental inventory," Exelbirt says. "Vintage 1970s properties like this were frequently passed over. Today, conversion activity has slowed, opening the door for income investors to re-enter the South Florida market. We expect to see more of these transactions."