ORLANDO—Wells Fargo is betting big on Florida multifamily. How big? The financial institution's Multifamily Capital Group recently closed a $52 million Fannie Mae loan to Avesta Communities to refinance a portfolio of multifamily properties across Florida.

“This refinancing further consolidates Avesta's position as a long-term owner of these communities, allowing our company to continuously provide residents with a home where they can live abundantly,” says Alin Sigheartau, director of Investments at Avesta. Three of the multifamily assets in the Avesta portfolio are in the Greater Tampa-Saint Petersburg market. These apartment properties accounted for about 65% of the total units represented in the multifamily portfolio.

“Avesta is a best in class operator and in our opinion did a phenomenal job in executing their business strategy to reposition the related assets,” says Horatio Jones, the director of the Florida Region for Wells' Multifamily Capital Group.