Canadian Buyer Snaps Up 1960s Vintage Multifamily

TAMPA, FL—Arbors at Belleair, a vintage 1960s multifamily property, has traded for $6.6 million in Clearwater. The sale price represents $55,000 per multifamily unit and $63.46 per square foot. Replacement cost for concrete block constructed multifamily product with land in the middle of Pinellas county is close to double the sale price.

Darron Kattan, Bob Goldfinger, and Kevin Kelleher, all of Franklin Street, represented both parties in the transaction. The seller and the buyer are private local investors.

“A lot of the institutional investors are actually starting to drop even 1980s vintage properties off their radar screen,” Kattan says. “That is going to open the door for the private client market to buy nicer properties than they could in the past as they won’t have to compete with the institutional money and low return requirements.”

Kattan expects the 1960s and 1970s multifamily buyer pool to also change. But with the amount of capital entering the multifamily space, a majority of it being private capital-based, there will be a whole new set of buyers in Central Florida.

“Demand for the older properties is strong, as many contain opportunities to rehab and reposition deals,” Kattan says. “This entrepreneurial set of investors is growing in number, buying ability and buying power. That trend appears to be strong with money coming from all parts of the world and with the lending world returning to normal business and actually making loans."

Built in 1968, Arbors at Belleair is a garden-style five-acre gated community. A $500,000 renovation, which included a new fitness center and clubhouse, was completed in March 2008. A new roof was placed on all 10 multifamily buildings totaling more than 85,900 square feet of 30-year architectural shingles.

Kattan calls Arbors a true arm’s length buyer-seller transaction, which demonstrates the market is turning the corner and emerge from lender REO and short sales to a more traditional multifamly marketplace. A Canadian investor snapped up the multifamily asset and relocated to the area.