TAMPA, FL—Tamarind Bay just snapped up Tamarind Bay Apartments, a 200-unit, 16-acre garden style multifamily community in the Gateway submarket north of St. Petersburg. Tamarind Bay paid $12.75 million, or $63,500 per unit.

Jim Bobbitt and John Selby of the CBRE Tampa office negotiated the sale for the seller AIMCO, a Denver-based REIT. The property is currently 97% occupied.

“We acquired this multifamily asset because it’s well-located in what we believe to be one of the strongest submarkets in St. Petersburg,” Carter Faber, owner of Tamarind Bay, tells GlobeSt.com. “We particularly like the fact that the previous owner, AIMCO, substantially upgraded the property over a period of four years at a cost of nearly $3 million.”

Built in 1981, the property renovation included all 14 building exteriors, roofs, and the clubhouse. More than 50% of the units also have been significantly upgraded.

“Last spring, we seriously considered four or five available opportunities in St. Petersburg and Tampa, but in the end we were swayed by Tamarind Bay’s location,” Faber says. “We will be a long-term investor. Our plan is simple: continue with interior upgrades and exterior improvements, make every effort to keep our residents happy and keep the building full, a good combination.”

Centerline Capital provided a $6.6 million, FNMA, 10-year loan, at 3.81%. With the LTV under 55%, Centerline agreed to three years of interest-only payments. Tamarind Bay will look to acquire another multifamily asset in the next three to six months. But so are other investors.

According to Marcus & Millichap’s third quarter report, deal flow swelled 50% over the past 12 months. More than half of the properties that changed hands in the Tampa Bay area in the past two years had 100 or more units. Properties sold during the past year carried a median price of $45,200 per unit, representing an 18% increase from the preceding year.

“Capital continues to flow into the market while low-cost debt remains readily available, a trend that will sustain a healthy volume of deals in the months ahead,” M&M wrote in its report. “A lack of product listed for sale potentially stands in the way of additional transaction activity, though the strengthening in operations continues to enable more owners to list assets.”