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An Ohio-based firm that has been among the most active multifamily rental investors in Southwest Florida in the past year has teamed up with a Michigan company to acquire The Reef, an upscale student housing complex near Florida Gulf Coast University, in Fort Myers.
Coastal Ridge Real Estate and M Group paid $78.75 million for the 228-unit complex, at 10121 Shephard St.
The deal follows Coast Ridge’s purchase in July of the 800-unit Coastal Village Apartments, adjacent to The Reef, for $44 million.
“We’re highly interested in Florida,” says Coastal Ridge Managing Partner Patrick McBride. “Obviously a massive demographic shift from the past year has been occurring, and that’s a trend we see continuing for the near future and beyond.”
He adds the company was drawn to Florida Gulf Coast, in particular, because of its overall lack of student housing.
“Before Coastal Village was developed in 2004, there was really just a shadow inventory of student housing there,” McBride says. “And Reef is top of the line in student housing today, so we feel they really complement each other.”
The purchase of the Reef, a 924-bed complex completed in two phases in 2016 and last year, marks the company’s third Fort Myers purchase of 2018.
In February, Coast Ridge paid Naples-based Stock Development Co. $71.4 million for its 324-unit Spectra apartment community, a Class A project on 32 acres with amenities such as private poolside cabanas and six acres of walking trails.
Like Spectra, The Reef is highly amenitized, with a pair of resort-style swimming pools with cabanas; outdoor billiards and ping pong tables, a fire pit, Bocce Ball and a sand volleyball court, a 24-hour fitness center and a cyber café that serves complimentary Starbucks coffee.
Units feature 50-inch flat-screen televisions, high-speed Internet and WiFi, granite kitchen countertops and stackable full-size washer-and-dryer appliances.
Rents, however, are commensurate, ranging from $730 per month to $850 per month, McBride says.
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