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Real Estate Briefs (Tampa)
By David R. Corder
Associate Editor
Sun Vista Buys South Pasadena Apartments
Sun Vista Development Group LLC has embarked on another condominium conversion project.
The St. Petersburg-based investment group, managed by investors John Loder and Steve Gianfilippo, recently acquired the Pasadena Apartments in South Pasadena for $29 million.
The investment group, operating as Pasadena Investment Management Partners LLC and Pasadena Investment Holdings LLC, paid about $146,465 for each of the 198 apartment units at 1885 Shore Drive S.
That's much higher than the $112,804 per unit the investment group paid in November for the Indian Pass Apartments, 13 miles east in Indian Shores. The partnership, operating as Sun Vista Indian Pass LLC, acquired the 164-unit property at 17715 Gulf Blvd. for $18.5 million. On notice of the sale, Loder publicly indicated the partnership's intent to convert the Indian Pass property into condos.
No one with Sun Vista returned requests for comment prior to press time, but those familiar with the Pasadena Apartments deal say Loder and Gianfilippo plan a similar conversion there.
Tenants have been notified they have first right of refusal, says Marc Rosenwasser, a vice president at Tampa's Meadow Wood Property Co. The firm managed the property for the seller, Pasadena Apartments Partnership LLP. It has been retained to help renters with the transition.
The partnership purchased the property in 1983 for $5 million.
"The reason they decided to sell the property (now) is because real estate values are at an all-time high and the condo conversion desired is at an all-time high," Rosenwasser says. "It was an opportunity to maximize their return on their very long-term investment."
The investment group has not yet filed plans or requested permits for construction work at the Pasadena Apartments, says Gary Brevoort, South Pasadena's community improvement director. He says a buyer's representative had indicated to him the apartments would become condos.
Such a plan fits with the current neighborhood characteristics, Brevoort says.
"The entire street is either condos or rental, but it's still pretty much a good mixture," he says. "Pasadena is a great place to live."
To finance the deal, the Sun Vista group secured two loans. It obtained $38.7 million in permanent financing through California's Fremont Investment & Loan. It also obtained nearly $8.4 million in mezzanine financing through New York's American Mortgage Acceptance Co.
Over the past several years, the Sun Vista group has focused its acquisition strategy on under-used, residential and small-commercial properties in waterfront communities.
In March, the group acquired several such parcels around the 400 block of 137th Avenue Circle in Madeira Beach for about $4.45 million and financed deals through a $3.51 million AmSouth Bank Loan.
Loder, the son of Crabby Bill's Seafood Inc. founder William Loder, and Gianfilippo also are involved in a controversial project with Tampa's Debartolo Development LLC. That project proposes the development of condos on the site of Bellair's Belleview Biltmore Resort & Spa.
Mercury Advisors negotiates
$119 million financing deal
BORROWER: Grand Central at Kennedy LLC, Tampa.
LENDER: Bouwfonds Property Finance BV, The Netherlands.
PROPERTY: About 4.3 acres at Kennedy Boulevard and Meridian Avenue, Tampa.
MORTGAGE AMOUNT: $119 million, senior and junior construction notes.
OTHER FINANCING IN PLACE: $10.6 million, Bank Midwest NA, Kansas City, Mo.
LAW FIRM ON MORTGAGE: Kramer & Levine Chartered, La Plata, Md.
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: It took Ken Stoltenberg and partner Frank Bombeeck only 120 days to secure about $119 million in senior and junior construction financing for the condominium-retail-office project they're developing in Tampa's Channelside District.
Construction started in April on the two-building, mixed-use project at Kennedy Boulevard and Meridian Avenue. When finished, the project will contain 392 condos, 125,000 square feet of retail-commercial space and 60,000 square feet of office-condo space.
The partners relied on Bombeeck's European contacts to obtain the construction financing. He's Dutch. BFV Interim Finance BV, the lender, is an affiliate of Bouwfonds Property Finance BV. Bouwfonds is a subsidiary of the Netherlands-based ABN Amro Bank NV.
"We certainly did talk to every bank in town; everyone is chasing a deal or two," says Stoltenberg, managing member of Mercury Advisors LLC, Grand Central's parent company. "Because we have three different components - residential, retail and office - it was a little complicated to underwrite.
"From Bouwfonds' standpoint, mixed use is not alien to them," he adds. "This is very common in Europe. 'Living above the store,' as it's called, is very common. I think (the concept) scared off some of the local lenders."
The Dutch lender underwrote the project on a subordinated basis, too. In October last year, the partners obtained a $10.6 million mortgage from Kansas City, Mo.-based Bank Midwest NA. That note matures in November, though terms include a year extension.
"(Bouwfonds) came in, liked the project and took the time to understand all of the people around us," Stoltenberg says. "We're just a small company, two guys, but we bring in very large companies to do what they're best at. That was the selling point."
Those partners include Beck Development LLC, the owner's representative; Harding Construction Co., the general contractor; Urban Studio Architects, the designer; Scott Partnership Architecture, the production architect; New Homes America, a residential brokerage; and Quest Co., the retail leasing agent.
Since beginning the project two years ago, Stoltenberg says, all of the condos have sold. Investors account for about half of those sales.
"The reason I say that: When someone tells me they're not sure whether they going to live in it or not, then it's an investment," he says. "All the contracts are executed and past the point of recession."
So far the project is on budget and on schedule, Stoltenberg says. The first building should be finished by the end of next year. The second building should be completed by spring 2007.
"We're well on the way," he says. "It's the biggest of the downtown (condo) projects; there's something like 27 of them. It's also the first one to come out of the ground."
Steinbrenners sell Radisson
to Wacksman-Wallace group
BUYER: CRI Leslie LLC, Tampa.
SELLER: Shorecrest Holdings Ltd., Tampa, and Kinsman Properties Corp., Columbus, Ohio.
PROPERTY: 7700 W. Courtney Campbell Causeway, Tampa.
PRICE: $13,800,000
PRIOR SALE: $10,000,200
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Fowler White Boggs Banker PA, Tampa.
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: The real estate investment partnership of Don Wallace and Ben Wacksman has acquired the Radisson Bay Harbor Hotel on Tampa's Rocky Point.
CRI Leslie LLC, an affiliate of Tampa's Capital Realty Investors LLC, paid $13.8 million or about $53,696 a unit for the 257-room hotel at 7700 W. Courtney Campbell Causeway. Capital Realty is a partnership of Wallace, president of Tampa's Lazy Days RV Center Inc., and Wacksman, a real estate executive and former Hillsborough County commissioner.
The partnership acquired the property from Shorecrest Holdings Ltd. and Kinsman Properties Corp., two companies controlled by New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.
It's uncertain whether the Wallace-Wacksman partnership plans to renovate the 31-year-old hotel. The partnership is evaluating its options, Wacksman says.
This is the partnership's first foray into the hospitality market. On its Web site (www.crillc.com), the company describes a portfolio that contains about one million square feet, including 435,540 square feet of industrial-warehouse-distribution space, 86,000 square feet of office space and a 76,100-square-foot retail plaza.
Adam's Mark Hotel
fetches $31.5 million
BUYER: TW/Beach Residences-Clearwater LLC
SELLER: MSPA Acquisition II LP
PROPERTY: 430 S. Gulfview Blvd., Clearwater Beach.
PRICE: $31,500,000
PRIOR SALE: $20,138,200.
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Jones Day, Dallas, Texas.
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: The long-rumored sale of the Adam's Mark Hotel on Clearwater Beach cost the buyer a premium.
The condominium development arm of Taylor Woodrow North America paid $31.5 million for the 31-year-old hotel at 430 S. Gulfview Blvd. That's about 56% more than the price the joint venture of Pyramid Advisors LLC and the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund paid for the property in December 2003.
St. Petersburg-based Taylor Woodrow U.S. Tower Inc., operating as TW/Beach Residences-Clearwater LLC, intends to demolish the 217-room hotel and redevelop it into a mixed-use condominium-hotel project.
Last October, Boston-based Pyramid Associates, operating as MSPA Acquisition II LP, closed the hotel to repair hurricane damage. Following the decision, the company disclosed plans on its Web site (www.pyramidadvisors.com) to flag the hotel as a Radisson. That didn't happen, even through Radisson still lists the hotel as a member of the chain on its Web site (www.radisson.com).
Now the Taylor Woodrow division wants to erect a 15-story building with 113 condos and a 10-story building with 78 hotel units on the 1.8-acre beachfront property.
Beginning in January, the company plans to sell condo units at prices from around $500,000 to more than $2 million. It also expects to sell out quickly on floor plans that range from 900 to 3,200 square feet.
At just $500,000 each, the company could expect total sales on 113 units of almost $57 million. To double that figure, it would have to have an average sale price of about $885,000 each.
The proposed condo-hotel project still requires city development approval. But company officials insist the proposal would complement the city's efforts to create a marketable southern gateway to the beaches.
Treasure Island B&B sells
220% above prior sale price
BUYER: Westwinds Group LLC, Woodstock, Ga., and Bay Pines Manor Inc., St. Petersburg.
SELLER: Beachway Inn Resort Inc., Clearwater
PROPERTY: 10265 Gulf Blvd., Treasure Island.
PRICE: $6,000,000
PRIOR SALE: $1,875,000.
TITLE FIRM ON DEED: Title Services of Pinellas Inc., Bellair Bluffs.
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: In just six years, Clearwater's Bishara family increased its investment in Treasure Island's Beachway Inn Resort by about 220%.
Two family-owned corporations recently bought the 36-room bed-and-breakfast inn, 10265 Gulf Blvd., for $6 million or about $166,667 a unit. The buyers are Westwinds Group LLC, a Woodstock, Ga.-based partnership managed by Arnold and Vivian Bates, and Bay Pines Manor Inc., a St. Petersburg partnership managed by Largo residents Richard J. and Karen B. Koda.
Beachway Inn Resort Inc., a family owned partnership headed by Magda Bishara, acquired the property in 1999 for $1.875 million or about $52,083 a unit. The property includes 31,394 square feet of improvements built in 1970 on a 44,000-square-foot lot.
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