TIAA-CREF affiliate pays $93M for Plantation apartment complex

Rents ranged from about $1,300 to $2,100 a month

Laurels at Jacaranda
Laurels at Jacaranda

The Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association just sold a Plantation apartment complex for $93 million, or nearly $200,000 per unit, to a company managed by TIAA-CREF.

Property records show Gateway Windsor Inc., a California company controlled by the retirement association and managed by Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management’s RREEF America, sold the Laurels at Jacaranda to TRPF Laurels at Jacaranda LLC. The buyer financed the deal with a $36 million mortgage from Fannie Mae.

The 468-unit property at 9733 Northwest Seventh Circle marks yet another sale of a large-scale apartment complex in South Florida. The pace and volume of multifamily investment deals has picked up during the second quarter of this year. Recent deals include the $158.5 million sale of a Pembroke Pines complex, which equates to about $230,000 per unit; and the $68.2 million sale of an older Coral Springs community, which broke down to about $170,000 per apartment.

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The Plantation complex was built in 1990 on 32 acres north of I-595. It features a clubhouse, fitness center, tennis courts and pavilion, basketball court, swimming pools and more. The development last sold for $14.3 million in 1999, according to property records.

Orlando-based ZRS Management took over leasing at the Laurels at Jacaranda from Greystar, a leasing agent said. Rents typically range from about $1,300 a month for a studio to up to $2,100 a month for a three-bedroom unit, but are being adjusted under the new ownership. Asking rents in Broward have risen 23 percent over the last four years, according to a CBRE report.

TIAA-CREF, short for Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, is a large pension fund investing for academics, researchers, government workers and others. In Broward, its portfolio includes a Coconut Creek apartment complex and the Manor at Flagler Village.