In another sign of investors’ appetite for South Florida rental communities, the Pollack Shores Investment Group just bought a Boynton Beach apartment complex for $109 million.
The deal marks yet another big-ticket property purchase in the multifamily market, which financial institutions have targeted over the past year as the local housing market undergoes a correction.
County records show Pollack took Boynton’s Las Ventanas apartments off the hands of partners Epoch Properties and Prudential Insurance Company for $221,275 per unit.
Located at 1331 South Federal Highway, the mid-rise community houses 494 apartments and townhomes that average 1,250 square feet. It was built by Epoch over nearly 15 acres in 2009 and boasts an average monthly asking rent of $1,802, according to data from the CoStar Group.
The complex is 92.3 percent occupied — slightly lower than the market average of 93.4 percent.
Pollack, an Atlanta-based company with $1.3 billion worth of assets in its portfolio, has made its money by both developing and trading rental communities in the Southeast since the firm was founded 10 years ago. Its bets on the multifamily market lean heavily toward Florida, where Pollack has amassed some 4,400 apartments.
The company financed its latest purchase with a $70.4 million loan from Prudential, according to county records.
Communities like Las Ventanas popped up all over South Florida during the housing crash, when renting became the preferred option for many. The multifamily building boom has continued through this latest cycle, though certain areas like downtown Miami are now facing a supply glut that could dissuade apartment builders from launching new products.
But even as the new development scene faces turbulence, investment dollars have not appeared to ebb. Roughly $4 billion worth of rental properties traded in South Florida during this year’s first half alone, with the Las Ventanas community joining a handful of complexes that have fetched price tags above $100 million. One of the most recent: TIAA’s $114 million purchase of the newly built Edge at Flagler Village, which traded for roughly $344,578 per unit.