TAMPA, FL-In 2005 the sale of Georgetown Apartments as a prime waterfront redevelopment site for $125-million set records as a multifamily transaction and Tampa Bay's largest commercial real estate deal. Three years later, the sprawling vacant complex is among the biggest casualties of a busted property market.

The 162-acre site, located at the northwest corner of Westshore and Gandy boulevards in the upscale South Tampa area, was sold last week during a bankruptcy auction at the Hillsborough County Courthouse for a little over $2 million. Bank of America took back the property for that price, declining other bids representing pennies on the dollar compared to the outstanding loan value.

"They felt it was worth enough to protect their portion in regard to the debt, which was a considerably higher amount," says John Gerlach, managing director of Clearwater-based Colliers Arnold who brokered the 2005 transaction. Bank of America was reportedly owed at least $90 million on the property, according to a report by the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

Fort Lauderdale-based Motta Group bought Georgetown with grand plans to replace its aging red brick apartment buildings with numerous upscale waterfront houses, townhomes and condominiums. More than 600 units were vacated in recent years as Motta spent considerable time on design and permitting work, culminating just in time for the ongoing downturn.

The price Motta paid for Georgetown was expected to set a new benchmark for multifamily and land sales, at more than $200,000 per apartment unit and $772,000 per acre. Besides not reaching those heights, other proposed redevelopments slated to bring new luxury condos to South Tampa failed to materialize.

Bank of America must now determine whether it should resell the Georgetown property for a higher price than it paid in order to recoup its loan losses, though Gerlach points out that it may be a while before it can expect a reasonable return. "No one really can predict the return of the market," he says.