JACKSONVILLE, FL-In a sign of life for multifamily development in North Florida, the 23-acre Seagrass Development site has traded hands. TriBridge Residential, a multifamily investment, acquisitions, property management, development and construction firm, sold the property to a private investor for $6.1 million.

ARA Jacksonville-based vice president Matt Wilcox served as lead broker on the deal. He worked with ARA Orlando-based principal, Kevin Judd and ARA Tampa-based vice president Patrick Dufour to represent the seller.

“Interesting deal,” Wilcox tells GlobeSt.com. “The seller had plans to develop the property, but had a basis too high to attract new capital to fund a construction loan. Our initial thought was to bring a new capital source to the table, letting the market reset the value, and then form a joint venture with the seller to develop the property. The pricing came in quite strong, so the seller elected to salvage a portion of their equity and sell the parcel.”

TriBridge saw about 10 offers on the deal, a signal that development opportunities are picking up. Wilcox notes a renewed interest in development for well located parcels that have a seller willing to move the parcel for a price at which the buyer can realistically project a 7.5% to 8% return on cost with un-trended rents. The Seagrass Development site is exceptional because the site is near pad-ready.

"With high local occupancy rates, rising effective rents and no units slated for delivery in the foreseeable future, Seagrass presents its buyer with an excellent opportunity to take advantage of the tightening market in Jacksonville and be the newest product available to potential residents,” Wilcox says. The buyer will break ground on a 396-unit project in the first quarter of 2012.

The Seagrass Development site is located in the highly affluent area of Atlantic Boulevard and San Pablo Road. It’s a high barrier-to-entry site that sets the stage for a unique multifamily property in Jacksonville’s affluent Tony Beaches submarket of Jacksonville.

Seagrass is across the street from high end retail, including a recently opened Fresh Market, and less than three miles from the Mayo Clinic. The average household income within a one mile radius of the site is $101,093, nearly double the average household income for the city of Jacksonville.