Harbor Group pays $158.5M for multifamily complex in Pembroke Pines

An affiliate of Harbor Group International just paid $158.5 million for Montage at City Center in Pembroke Pines, marking South Florida’s biggest multifamily deal of the year.

AVR Realty Company was the seller of 700-unit rental complex. Property records show the Yonkers, New York-based real estate firm had paid the same amount, $158.5 million, for the project in two purchases in 2014 and 2015. “It was not a strategic hold for them for their portfolio,” Cushman & Wakefield Vice Chairman Robert Given told The Real Deal. The deal also included the assumption of a $100 million loan, he said.

Given and Cushman Executive Managing Director Zachary Sackley of the firm’s South Florida multifamily team, along with Troy Ballard, Neal Victor and Aaron Mandel, represented AVR Realty.

Montage at City Center, at 10170 Southwest Seventh Street, consists of 12 mid-rise buildings and 28 townhome structures, with a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The development was built in two phases, in 2014 and 2015. Property amenities include a LEED Gold-certified clubhouse, two pools, a fitness center, business center and game room.

The complex is 95 percent occupied at an average market rent of $1.55 per square foot, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Pembroke Pines is in the midst of redevelopment. Nearby, Terra Group is developing Pembroke Pines City Center, a 47-acre mixed-use project with retail, office and residential components. Phase One will have 200,000 square feet of retail anchored by a 45,600-square-foot Publix, and Phase Two will include 450 apartments and 100,000 square feet of offices. Additionally, the city is in the process of completing a $60 million civic and cultural center.

Given said the multifamily market in South Florida is rebounding in the second quarter after a steep decline in the first quarter. Sales were down 74 percent to $134 million in Q1, from $515 million in the same period of 2016.

“The presidential election, Brexit, the Fed rate movement … led to a very sluggish investor sentiment late last year, but it completely changed in January of this year,” he said. Since deals take three to six months to be completed, that upturn is now being reflected in the second quarter, which is already tracking $330 million in sales to date, with more deals in the works, Given said.

Harbor International Group, based in Norfolk, Virginia, owns other properties in Florida, including 111-115 Northeast 40th Street in the Miami Design District, and multifamily developments in St. Petersburg, Bradenton and Jacksonville, according to its website.