MIAMI—Springs at Estero, an institutional grade, class A, 260-unit multifamily community in Southwest Florida, has traded hands. Passco Companies acquired the multifamily asset for $53.5 million.

The brand new, stabilized multifamily property is in the submarket of Estero within the Fort Myers/Cape Coral MSA. According to Passco's research, the Southwest MSA has added more than 55,000 jobs in the last two years, and its population grew by more than 22,000 people from 2015 to 2016. The Southwest MSA is also consistently ranked as one of the fastest growing regions in the US with an unemployment rate hovering around 4.7%.

“The region is surrounded by a diverse range of employment hubs, has remarkable population growth, high barriers to entry, and a very limited multifamily development pipeline,” Colin Gillis, vice president of Southeast Acquisitions at Passco Companies, tells GlobeSt.com. “This strongly positions the asset for long-term growth and will drive increased resident demand over the next several years. The limited multifamily development in the region will also create an opportunity to effectively grow rents as the market will not easily become over saturated by an influx of new multifamily development.”