Starwood Property Trust snapped up a rental complex in Homestead as part of a $600 million acquisition of affordable housing units in Florida, property records show.
The Greenwich, Connecticut-based investment firm paid $34.35 million for the Homestead Colony, a 312-unit development at 800 East Mowry Drive. Starwood affiliate SPT Dolphin Homestead Colony paid about $110,100 per apartment.
The seller, Homestead Colony Limited Partnership, is tied to Riverstone Residential Group, which Greystar acquired in 2015.
Homestead experienced some of the fastest-growing rent increases, according to a recent Zumper report. As of late last year, rents in Homestead rose by 15.1 percent year-over-year to $1,070 for a one-bedroom.
In addition to Homestead Colony, Starwood is buying 28 apartment complexes in Orlando, Lakeland, Lake Worth, Windermere, Melbourne and Palmetto, according to a press release. The majority of the 6,185 units were in Orlando and the entire portfolio sale is expected to close by the second quarter of this year.
Starwood financed the deals with a $116.75 million mortgage from Wells Fargo, records show.
The firm began investing in affordable housing apartments in 2015, when it bought a 31-property portfolio of low-income multifamily units for $563.5 million.