Mormon CRE Unit Pays $133M for South Florida Multifamily

Multifamily sales continue to aim for new heights in South Florida, as buyers with ample resources are flocking to the hottest market.

This week, Salt Lake City-based Property Reserve, the investment arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, paid $133M to buy a newly built multifamily campus in Plantation.

The eight-story building known as The Ellsworth encompasses 315 units at 1301 and 1303 Southwest 80th Terrace in proximity to the intersection of I-595 and South University Drive. The deal translates to about $422K per unit.

Property Reserve bought The Ellsworth from its developers, Stiles, a firm based in Fort Lauderdale, and NJ-based PGIM Real Estate.

The partners completed the project last year. The building is adjacent to Temple Kol Ami Emanu-El, which sold the 4.3-acre development site to Stiles and PGIM in 2021 for $5.4M.

The Ellsworth was listed in March, with an asking price of about $150M. The property was 93% leased at the time, with monthly rents ranging from $2,915 to $4,234.

Higher for longer interest rates, the withdrawal of traditional lenders and the waning of a two-year surge in rent growth don’t appear to be dampening interest in multifamily trades in South Florida.

A bevy of recent transactions in South Florida includes Chicago-based Mesirow’s purchase for $89M of The Retreat at Sawgrass Village, a 325-unit apartment complex near the Sawgrass Mills mall in Sunrise.

The Retreat, which includes a five-story building and three one-story buildings at 3001 Northwest 130th Terrace, was sold by AMLI Residential. The acquisition was financed with a $71M loan from Equitable Financial Life Insurance Co.

NY-based Pantzer Properties paid $139M last month to acquire AMLI Doral, a 6.4-acre garden-apartment complex at 11481 Northwest 41st Street in Doral. JLL Real Estate Capital provided Pantzer with an $87.6M mortgage for the property, which will be renamed The Point at Lakeside, according to a press release.

Brookfield Properties recently purchased the 444-unit Turtle Cove apartment complex in unincorporated Palm Beach County for $107.5M from Miami Beach-based Starwood Capital Group.

In the top multifamily deal in South Florida so far this year, Los Angeles-based Ares Management paid $139.7M—about $492K per unit—in May for Ceru, an eight-story apartment campus encompassing 284 units. Ceru, located at 5205 Congress Avenue in Boca Raton, was sold by Fort Lauderdale-based Mainstreet Capital Partners.