PALM BEACH, FL—Mariner's Key in Lake Park, 8-unit luxury waterfront multifamily community in Palm Beach County, FL, has a new owner. A joint venture between AIMS Real Estate, which is a business unit of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Atlanta, and Atlanta's Carroll Organization, grabbed the trophy asset for $38 million.

ARA Florida-based principals Avery Klann and Hampton Beebe represented a New York-based institution in the transaction. ARA managing partners Marc deBaptiste and Richard Donnellan assisted in the deal.

“Mariner's Key is a one-of-a-kind community with million-dollar views and for-sale unit finishes,” says Klann. “The community is one of the few rental properties in South Florida offering unobstructed, direct views of the Intracoastal Waterway and a marina.”

Mariner's Key was first built in 1965, but has since seen a complete gut renovation and repositioning to rebrand the multifamily community as a best-in-class option in Palm Beach County. The repositioning process, which concluded in 2010, saw buildings stripped down to their concrete shells in order to bring them up to current hurricane code.

According to ARA, the complete rehab transformed the effective age of the property. The buyer effectively purchased a class AAA asset at a purchase price well below replacement cost.

“Investor demand for high quality, well located multihousing properties continues to be very strong,” says Beebe. Mariner's Key is 95% occupied at the time of sale.

The location is also strategic. Mariner's Key is located minutes from the major employment centers in the suburban areas of the North Palm Beach submarket and is only 10 minutes from the Downtown West Palm Beach Central Business District.

“Multifamily housing is really hot for a variety of reasons,” Mike Cohn, regional president and co-founder, Lennar Commercial, tells GlobeSt.com. “Baby Boomers are downsizing and choosing to live in in town and Millennials are bucking the old American dream of moving to the suburbs and buying a house.  They want the flexibility and added social benefits of multifamily.”