(Carl Cronan is editor of Real EstateFlorida.)

TAMPA, FL-Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. has purchased a 92% majority of the 234-unit Village Oaks apartment complex here for nearly $21.3 million. Cushman & Wakefield's Florida Apartment Brokerage Services negotiated the sale on behalf of Radco Management LLC, receiver for EB Developers Inc., the property's previous owner.

The total sale price comes to approximately $98,800 for each of the 215 units, or $70 per sf for the portion of Village Oaks purchased by Mid-America. The 19 remaining units are owned individually as condominiums.

Memphis, TN-based Mid-America was creative in its efforts to buy the remaining units at Village Oaks, says Byron Moger, executive director of C&W's apartment brokerage in Tampa. "As a result, they got an excellent price for 215 high-quality apartments with upside potential," Moger says.