Cottonwood buys Pompano Beach apartment complex for $95.5M

Cottonwood Residential bought a Pompano Beach apartment community for $95.5 million, marking unceasing investment appetite for South Florida rental properties.

The Salt Lake City, Utah-based multifamily owner and manager purchased the Linden Pointe community at 4411 North Federal Highway from affiliates of Harbor Group International, according to records.

Cottonwood Residential financed the purchase with a roughly $48 million loan from Berkadia Commercial Mortgage. The financing includes Cottonwood’s assumption of an existing $35.8 million loan, records show.

Linden Pointe traded for 73.6 percent more than its $55 million purchase price in 2018. The latest deal for the 243-unit community breaks down to $393,004 per apartment.

The six four-story building complex was built in 2015 on 8 acres, according to property records.

The gated community includes a clubhouse with a pool, gym, billiards lounge and conference room, according to Linden’s website. It offers one- to three-bedroom apartments, with monthly rent ranging from $2,190 to $4,420, Apartments.com shows.

This is Cottonwood Residential’s second South Florida apartment complex. The company bought the Cottonwood West Palm Apartments at 7130 Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach for $66.9 million in 2019.

Cottonwood’s portfolio spans the U.S., including properties in Tampa and St. Petersburg, according to its website. It also has communities under construction in Salt Lake City. Daniel Shaeffer is Cottonwood’s CEO and Chad Christensen is executive chairman.

Norfolk, Virginia-based Harbor Group, led by CEO Jordan E. Slone and President T. Richard Litton Jr., has been a hefty investor in South Florida’s rental market.

In March, Harbor Group bought the pair of ParkLine Miami apartment towers perched atop Brightline’s downtown station for more than $400 million, marking a record for a single-asset multifamily deal in South Florida since at least 2016.

Harbor Group also paid $50 million for the 275 FontaineParc apartment building at 275 Fontainebleau Boulevard in western Miami-Dade County in April.

South Florida’s multifamily market is one of the most robust in the region, prompting skyrocketing rents, as well as a flurry of investment and construction activity.

In May, median monthly rent hit $2,843, according to a Realtor.com report. South Florida marked the biggest rent hike, year-over-year, of 45.8 percent among the 50 largest U.S. metros.

In Pompano Beach, The Estate Companies scored final approval last week for an eight-story, 253-unit rental project at 208 North Federal Highway.

In February, The Benjamin Companies bought the Morea Apartments at 601 North Federal Highway, also in Pompano Beach, for $145.5 million.