Blaze Partners Strikes First Apartment Deal in Tampa

TAMPA, FL—Blaze Partners, LLC has acquired Nine15 Apartments, a 362-unit multifamily community here.

Nine15 is a 23-story luxury high-rise community located on North Franklin Street and blocks away from the Tampa Riverwalk. It is a community that offers residents walkability to downtown’s abundant cultural and entertainment venues, bars and restaurants, and major employers, according to Blaze.

“Tampa has been one of the darlings in the Southeast amongst institutional capital this cycle as strong performance has caused many investors to re-examine its standing amongst the traditional primary and secondary target markets in the U.S.,” Eddy O’Brien, co-founder and managing partner of Blaze tells GlobeSt.com. “As supply remains the headline risk, we have gravitated towards pockets where future development is becoming increasingly difficult to pencil or is transformational in nature. We believe that the long-term, structural foundations of rental housing fundamentals are solid and continue to believe in the positive secular housing trends in the MSA.”

The acquisition marks the company’s first investment in Tampa, a target investment market for Blaze as it seeks to augment its other Florida exposure.

“We are excited about establishing our footprint in Tampa and looking forward to continuing to expand our presence here as we look for unique opportunities that present an attractive risk-return dynamic,” O’Brien said. “We remain committed to thoughtfully increasing our exposure throughout Florida with South Florida, Tampa, and Orlando being our primary focus.”

Blaze said it will invest capital in the property and expand resident offerings.

Blaze has been actively growing its rental housing portfolio throughout the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, and Texas. The company has acquired or currently has under control approximately $800 million in multifamily communities on behalf of institutional equity partners with nearly $300 million in volume within the last six months.