GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Laguna Vista Apartments Sell for Nearly $13M

LARGO, FL-Laguna Vista Apartments, a 235-unit, 98%-leased stately looking multifamily property, has been sold for $12.5 million. Miami-based G & A Development paid Canada-based Vista DeLagoa Inc. $53,190 per unit for the 25-year-old property, a price area brokers consider far below replacement cost.

Brokers Casey Babb and Bill Renje of Prudential CRES Commercial Real Estate in Tampa negotiated for the buyer. The seller, based in Brampton, Ontario, represented itself. The deal was a direct sale, never having been on the market, Renje tells GlobeSt.com. The seller had owned the asset at 555 Belcher Rd. since 1990.

The partners in G & A Development are T.G.H. Investments Inc. which owns 87% of Laguna Vista, and Double H Inc. which owns 13%.

Laguna Vista consists of one-bedroom, one-bath apartments with 90% offering lakefront views. Average asking rent is $540 per month. The deal took four months to complete, from contract signing to closing. There were no special governmental or environmental challenges the buyer or seller had to overcome before closing the deal, Babb says.

"A conduit loan had to be defeased and that was the only challenge on this transaction," Babb tells GlobeSt.com. The deal was done at this time because of favorable market conditions for buyer and seller, the broker says.

"While the seller was capitalizing on a strong investment market, the buyer, who happened to be in a 1031-exchange situation, felt that this property's location in Pinellas County will position it for long-term NOI growth through rental increases, as other comparable properties in the area are converted to condos," Babb says. He adds, "As compared to condos, [the buyer] perceived this property to be a relative value investment."

Babb says his office expects to end 2005 and first quarter 2006 with about $60 million worth of closed investment sales.