Fairfield trades renovated Miramar apartment complex for $47M

The Ashler Apartments in Miramar
The Ashler Apartments in Miramar

After buying and rehabilitating the aging Ashlar Apartments in Miramar, Fairfield Residential has sold the community to Miami’s CFH Group for $46.8 million.

County records show Fairfield, based in California, closed its sale of the lakefront 480-unit community at 8300 North Sherman Circle last week. The buyer, CFH Group, is a real estate company that specializes in rental properties.

Now that the deal is closed, CFH is rebranding Ashlar as the Lake View Apartments and plans to spend several million dollars on upgrading the apartments with granite countertops, custom cabinets in the kitchens and bathrooms, new appliances and ceramic tiles throughout, according to a release. The company also plans to build a new 11,000-square-foot club house with a fitness center, yoga studio and computer lounge, along with two new pools, dog parks, and outdoor barbecue area and a walking path around the nearby lake.

Ashlar is under a land use restriction agreement that reserves at least 20 percent of the units for low-income tenants. The agreement expires in 2021.

Units at the development range in size from 766 square feet to 1,257 square feet, with rents starting at $1,050 per month.

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Then known as the Pier Club, Fairfield bought the complex back in 2006 for $41.2 million. It funded its purchase and subsequent renovations of the 1980s garden-style apartments with $44 million worth of Broward County multifamily revenue bonds, according to county documents.

Acquisitions and rehab are a specialty of Fairfield’s, which looks for properties that can grow in value alongside improving market conditions, according to its website.

Earlier this year, Fairfield broke ground on a new apartment project in Fort Lauderdale on land formerly owned by developer Dev Motwani.

Outside its dealings in the multifamily world, CFH is developing something a little more extravagant: condos for luxury cars. Two of the company’s principals are working on the Gables Auto Vault, a five-story building with spaces for sale that can hold anywhere between six and 20 cars.