Here are South Florida’s top multifamily deals of 2023

South Florida’s multifamily market wasn’t spared from elevated interest rates this year.  

The biggest deal was Air Communities’ purchase of a pair of apartment buildings in Miami Beach for $223.5 million, a price far below last year’s biggest sale of $440 million and runner-up of $429.4 million. 

The drop in prices is mainly due to the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes that started in March of 2022. Although activity remained strong last year, bolstered by unprecedented demand and skyrocketing rents, South Florida’s good fortune didn’t trickle into this year. 

Investment sales activity was mostly muted in the first few months of this year. Deals picked up in the summer and fall when buyers with closed discretionary funds, or capitalized funds allowing investors to avoid borrowing at higher interest rates, swooped in on South Florida. With an average occupancy of roughly 95 percent and an average monthly rent of over $2,100, the tri-county region remained a safe and coveted real estate bet –– at least for buyers that can still afford purchases. 

Here are this year’s top 10 multifamily deals in South Florida. 

Starting strong 

The year kicked off with the biggest multifamily deal of 2023. 

Air Communities bought the pair of 14-story Southgate Towers in South Beach for $223.5 million in January. 

The deal marked the first time the L-shaped buildings traded since the Gumenick family completed them in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Sitting on 4 acres at 910 West Avenue, Southgate Towers overlook Biscayne Bay and Miami. 

Air’s purchase breaks down to $451,568 per apartment. 

Denver-based Air, or Apartment Income REIT, also paid $26.9 million for the garage with ground-floor retail across the street from Southgate Towers and at 959 West Avenue. 

Stockbridge bets on west Miami-Dade County 

In September, San Francisco-based Stockbridge Capital Group bought the Casero apartment complex in the Fontainebleau neighborhood for $156 million. 

Trammell Crow Residential and private equity giant Carlyle sold the four-story, 356-unit property at 8300 Park Boulevard in unincorporated Miami-Dade County. The pair had completed the complex, previously named Alexan Park 82nd Apartments, last year. 

The sale breaks down to $438,202 per apartment. 

New York firm buys in Lantana 

Praedium Group bought a Lantana apartment complex for $138 million. 

The New York-based firm purchased the 348-unit Manor Lantana at 861 Water Tower Way from the complex’s developers, Related Group and Rockpoint. The deal breaks down to $396,552 per apartment. 

Coconut Grove-based Related and Boston-based Rockpoint completed the four-building Manor Lantana last year. 

The Pérez family sells again

Related, led by Jorge Pérez and his sons, Jon Paul and Nick Pérez, offloaded another apartment complex this year. 

The firm sold 29 Wyn at 2918 and 2828 Northwest First Avenue in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood to Berkshire Residential Investments and Palo Alto, California-based Bayshore Global Management for $135 million. 

Related developed the 248-unit 29 Wyn in partnership with Bob Zangrillo’s Dragon Global Management and Carlos Rosso, which were also the sellers. Completed this year, 29 Wyn consists of a 12-story and an eight-story building. 

The sale breaks down to $544,355 per apartment. 

Connor Group buys in Broward County 

The Connor Group paid $121 million for The Villas at Wyndham Lakes apartment complex in Coral Springs. 

The Dayton, Ohio-based firm bought the garden-style complex at 11500 Northwest 56th Drive from AEW Capital Management. Completed in the 1990s, the Villas consists of 22 three-story apartment buildings with 332 units. 

The deal breaks down to $364,458 per apartment. 

Harbor Group makes $106M play

Harbor Group International beefed up its South Florida portfolio with a $105.5 million purchase of a West Palm Beach complex. 

The Norfolk, Virginia-based firm bought the Locklyn West Palm at 3590 Village Boulevard from Alliance Residential Company and Carlyle. Alliance and Carlyle completed the six-building complex last year. 

The deal for the 280-unit property breaks down to $376,786 per apartment. 

Pantzer buys Miami building 

Pantzer Properties bought the six-story Milagro apartment building for $97.5 million. 

Wafra sold the six-story, 237-unit property at 2263 Southwest 37th Avenue in the Silver Bluff neighborhood to New York-based Pantzer. 

The deal breaks down to $411,392 per apartment. 

Bar Invest makes year-end play

Bar Invest Group scooped up a garden-style complex in Margate for $93 million. 

Blackstone, through its real estate arm, sold the 394-unit Pinebrook Pointe at 3495 Pinewalk Drive for $236,041 per apartment. 

Completed in 1988 on 33 acres, Pinebrook Pointe has 45 two-story and three-story buildings. Records show Blackstone had paid $69.9 million for the complex in 2017. 

PGIM Real Estate sells Palm Beach Gardens complex

Greystar bought a 448-unit apartment complex in Palm Beach Gardens for $92.2 million. 

PGIM Real Estate sold the garden-style Avana Palm Beach Gardens. It was completed in 1991 on 44.3 acres at 10000 Alternate A1A. 

Newark, New Jersey-based PGIM had purchased the complex in 2021 in partnership with Carroll Organization, an Atlanta-based firm that until recently was led by controversial real estate figure Patrick Carroll. This year, RMR Group, led by Adam Portnoy, bought Carroll Organization, and Carroll stepped down from the CEO post of his eponymously named firm. 

The recent Avana sale breaks down to $205,705 per apartment. 

GID pays $91M for building along Ludlam Trail 

GID bought a seven-story building with 312 units in Miami-Dade County’s Glenvar Heights neighborhood. 

The real estate investment and management firm paid $91.4 million for the Windsor Ludlam Trail at 7004 Bird Road in unincorporated county. 

Fort Lauderdale-based Altman Companies, a subsidiary of BBX Capital Real Estate, completed the building last year and christened it Altís Ludlam Trail. The former name was an homage to the Ludlam Trail, a biking, walking and running path that will run 5.6 miles within the boundaries of a former Florida East Coast Railway track. 

The recent sale breaks down to $292,832 per apartment. 

Source: TRD analysis of brokerage data, as provided by Colliers and Cushman & Wakefield.