Bell Partners scooped up a 228-unit apartment complex in Kendall West for $78.5 million, marking its second investment this month in South Florida’s multifamily market.
The Greensboro, North Carolina-based firm bought the community at 8485 Hammocks Boulevard in unincorporated Miami-Dade County from the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, or Lacera, according to records and real estate database Vizzda. The selling entity is in the care of San Francisco-based Stockbridge Capital Group.
The deal breaks down to $344,298 per unit.
Bell Partners assumed the seller’s $26.6 million outstanding balance on a loan from Prudential Insurance Company of America, records show.
The complex, rebranded Bell Kendall West from Bridges at Kendall Place, consists of seven three-story buildings completed in 2012 on a 15.8-acre site, records show. It offers one- to three-bedroom apartments, with monthly rents ranging from $2,145 to $3,214, according to the complex’s website.
Lacera, led by CEO Santos Kreimann and Deputy CEO Luis Lugo, is a pension fund for Los Angeles County and other districts, its website shows. It paid $52.7 million for the complex in 2016, records show.
In January, Lacera also sold the Powerline Business Park industrial complex at 4100 North Powerline Road in Deerfield Beach for $72.3 million.
Led by CEO Lili Dunn, Bell Partners is a multifamily investor with property management and construction divisions, according to its website.
The Kendall West deal comes on the heels of Bell Partners’ $121.3 million purchase of the 349-unit Bell Miramar Place apartment complex at 11338 Southwest 45th Place in Miramar. New York-based Blackstone was the seller.
South Florida’s long-term fundamentals are favorable, Bell Chief Investment Officer Nickolay Bochilo said in a statement, adding that the firm plans upgrades to apartments and common areas.
Bell Partners scooped up the Miramar and Kendall West properties through its value-add fund VIII, records show. The fund closed last year after securing $1.3 billion in equity, according to a Bell Partners news release.
Elevated interest rates slowed South Florida multifamily deals over the past two years compared with the investment sales spree of 2021 and 2022. Many of the buyers that closed deals this year and last used discretionary funds, much like Bell did in its two recent purchases. Also, buyers often worked around skitting lenders by assuming sellers’ loans or relying on Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae financing, which have more favorable terms than bank loans.
Multifamily investment sales have picked up in recent months. As of last month, Kushner Companies was under contract for $190 million to purchase the 28-story, 276-unit Hamilton at 555 Northeast 34th Street in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood. Also, Grand Peaks paid $90.9 million this month for the 448-unit The Seven at West Boca apartment complex at 10235 Boca Entrada Boulevard in unincorporated Palm Beach County.