Market Report

North Central Florida
Meridian Capital Group, LLC, a leading national commercial real estate finance and advisory firm, negotiated a $10 million mortgage to refinance the Cazabella Apartments multifamily property located in Gainesville, Fla.

 

The seven-year, non-recourse loan provided by a savings bank, features a fixed-rate of 4.13 percent. The 75 percent loan-to-value mortgage was rate-locked at application. This transaction was negotiated by Meridian Managing Director Michael Brown and Directors Noam Kaminetzky and Daniel Bockstoce, who are all based in the company’s Boca Raton, Fla., office. 

 

The 146-unit multifamily garden complex totals six acres and is located at 720 SW 34th Street in Gainesville.

 

"Meridian was able to navigate the complexity of this transaction and structure highly favorable financing to save the client more than $1 million over the loan term as compared with the next best available option," said Brown.

 

"While there was a lot of competition for this transaction, Meridian was able to leverage our unique lender relationships and negotiate superior transaction terms," added Kaminetzky.

Emerson International, developer of Eagle Creek Golf & Country Club on Narcoossee Road in southeast Orlando near Lake Nona and its Medical City, will open The Sanctuary at Eagle Creek luxury apartments by April 1.

Jonathan Claber, a director at Emerson International, said the 268-unit apartment home community will include a clubhouse, swimming pool, summer kitchen, dog park and gazebo.

Claber said Emerson International is developing the Sanctuary at Eagle Creek apartments and Jennings and Son is the general contractor for the project.

Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, a real estate investment services firm, has announced the sale of Town Homes at Sea Pines, a 150-unit apartment community located in Hudson, Fla., according to Richard D. Matricaria, regional manager of the firm’s Tampa office. The asset sold for $7,650,000.

Francesco "Frank" Carriera and Michael Regan, vice presidents investments in Marcus & Millichap’s Tampa office, had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the seller, a private investor located in St. Petersburg, Fla. The listing agents also procured the buyer of the property, a private investor based in Montreal, Quebec.

Town Homes at Sea Pines is located at 15902 Spyglass Terrace in Hudson. The properties are all situated on approximately a 17.9 acre parcel of land and consist of spacious two and three/bedroom floor plans, built in three phases. The first phase was built in 1985 and consists of 34 two-bedroom/two-bathroom units. The second phase was built in 2004 and consists of 50 two-bedroom/two-bathroom units with a second floor loft. The most recent phase was completed in 2007 and consists of 66 three-bedroom/two-bathroom units with a bonus room on the first floor. 

"The buying entity is an investment company from Canada who has a significant presence in the United States; however, this is their first acquisition in the Tampa Bay area," said Carriera. "Although trailing financials were not the strongest, they viewed this as a value-add opportunity, as the net effective rent was about $200 below market. Additionally, this presented an opportunity for the investor to purchase new construction for $38 per square foot, which is well below its replacement cost," concluded Carriera.

Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, a real estate investment services firm, has announced the sale of the University Portfolio, a 48-unit garden-style apartment property located in Tampa, Fla., according to Richard D. Matricaria, regional manager of the firm’s Tampa office. The asset sold for $875,000.

Michael Donaldson and Nicholas Meoli, senior associates in Marcus & Millichap’s Tampa office had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the seller, a financial institution in Boca Raton. Donaldson and Meoli also procured the buyer of the property, a private investor based in Canada.

The University Portfolio consists of three, garden-style apartment complexes located within a mile of each other in the University submarket of Tampa and situated approximately a mile from the University of South Florida. The unit mix of the portfolio consists of entirely two-bedroom and one-bathroom units, ranging from approximately 660 to 918 rentable square feet.

"The University Portfolio was a collection of three bank-owned communities totaling 48 units with substantial value-add potential due to high vacancy," said Donaldson. "While this theme was common in the downturn of the market, today, these offerings are few and far between and with the sheer number of investors looking for this type of opportunity, competition often drives "distressed" property values much higher than previous markets.

"Through a strategic and extensive marketing campaign reaching local, domestic and international buyers, we were able to generate 12 offers on the property.

"Ultimately, we closed with a foreign based buyer in Canada who plans to renovate and stabilize the community," concluded Meoli.

 

Meridian Capital Group, LLC, a leading national commercial real estate finance and advisory firm, negotiated a $43.8 million mortgage for the refinancing of the Regency Portfolio, which consists of 14 shopping centers located in Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.

 

The 10-year, non-recourse loan features a fixed-rate of 5.22 percent and was provided by a CMBS lender. This transaction was negotiated by Meridian Managing Director Michael Brown and Director Zach Nimhauser, who are based in the company’s Boca Raton, Fla. office. 

 

The 14-property portfolio totals 1,361,421 square feet and houses 173 tenants including Wal-Mart, Magic Mart, JCPenney, Beall’s Outlet, Kroger, Piggly Wiggly, Orschein Farm & Home and Big Lots. The portfolio is composed of the 34,156 square foot Green Acres located in Havana, Fla.; the 170,745 square foot Oak Station located in Marianna, Fla.; the 123,778 square foot Jackson Park located in Seymour, Ind.; the 142,760 square foot Village Center located in Seymour, Ind.; the 131,553 square foot River Creek located in Aurora, Ind.; the 35,179 square foot Quitman Shopping Center located in Quitman, Miss.; the 76,247 square foot Flint River Plaza located in Montezuma, Ga.; the 73,612 square foot Jackson Square located in Jackson, Ala.; the 68,451 square foot Town & Country Center located in Manchester, Ga.; the 37,350 square foot Vancleave Center located in Vancleave, Miss.; the 52,891 square foot Village Square located in Wiggins, Miss.; the 175,381 square foot Prestonburg Village located in Prestonburg, Ky.; the 160,713 square foot Twin County Plaza located in Galax, Va.; and the 78,245 square foot Country Roads located in Plaza Hinton, W.V.

 

"This loan was for a very sophisticated client, with a great understanding of the nuances of different types of debt," said Brown "We invested significant time structuring the specifics of the loan with the lender up front to build in solutions to our client’s ongoing needs over the 10-year loan term," he added.

 

"The portfolio had 173 leases to a variety of tenants with a broad array of renewal dates and extensions. By working with the lender to plan for different scenarios, we were able to develop a structure to achieve our client’s business objectives under favorable terms," added Nimhauser.

Meridian Capital Group, LLC, a leading national commercial real estate finance and advisory firm, negotiated a $15.5 million mortgage for the refinancing of the Shoppes at Blue Lake shopping center located in Boca Raton, Fla.

 

The seven-year, non-recourse mortgage features a 75 percent loan-to-value ratio and a competitive fixed-rate of 4.13 percent. This financing was rate-locked at application and was provided by a local savings bank. Meridian Managing Director Michael Brown and Directors Noam Kaminetzky and Daniel Bockstoce, of the company’s Boca Raton, Fla., negotiated this transaction.

 

The 50,000 square foot shopping center consists of four multi-tenanted buildings and notable tenants include Wells Fargo, PNC Bank, and Miller’s Ale House.

 

"Meridian leveraged our outstanding lender relationships to negotiate highly accretive financing that will save our client more than $1 million over the new loan term," said Brown.