Bridge Investment Group pays $35M for Plant City rental property

Salt Lake City-based Bridge acquired the 352-unit, 23-building complex east of Tampa for about $101,400 per unit

Plantation at Walden Lake
Plantation at Walden Lake

Bridge Investment Group, an active investor in South Florida properties, looked north and bought an apartment complex about 25 miles east of Tampa for $35.7 million.

Salt Lake City-based Bridge Investment paid about $101,400 per unit for the 23-building complex in Plant City called Plantation at Walden Lake, which is 95 percent leased.

Constructed in phases from 1990 to 1994, the rental complex has 352 apartments with one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans, plus 716 surface parking spaces. Among the common-area amenities are a swimming pool, gym, dog park, playground and an area for picnics and barbecues.

The 43-acre site of the property at 1400 Plantation Boulevard is located within easy driving distance of Brandon, Lakeland and other employment centers along Interstate 75.

The seller, Mercury Investment, has completed a multimillion-dollar capital improvement program at Plantation at Walden Lakes over the last three years.

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Some of the 352 units were not renovated, however.

“Renovating the remaining units will help the property compete with newer communities nearby and will significantly enhance revenue,” Luis Elorza, a senior director of Cushman & Wakefield, said in a prepared statement.

Elorza and another senior director of Cushman, Brad Capas, represented Mercury Investment in the transaction together with Robert Given, vice chairman.

Bridge Investment’s South Florida property acquisitions since last summer include its January purchase of an office building in Tamarac for $13.6 million, its December purchase of an office complex in Boca Raton for $54.5 million, and its September acquisition a luxury senior housing development in Lantana for $77.2 million. – Mike Seemuth