Transwestern Investment buys 210 Watermark

BUYER: TMP Watermark LLC (Transwestern Multifamily Partners LLC), Chicago

SELLER: The Realty Associates Fund VIII LP

PROPERTY: 210 W. Third St., Bradenton

PRICE: $18.5 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $24 million, September 2007

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Drane Freyer & Lapins Limited, Chicago

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Transwestern Investment Co. purchased the 210 Watermark apartments for $18.5 million.

The price equated to $85,648 per unit.

The 216-unit apartment complex features a business center, clubhouse, fitness center and pool.

“It is well located along the river in a very solid local market with access to the hospital and government agencies,” says Ed Ryder, managing director for Transwestern Investment. “It was a stabilized asset. The occupancy was around 90%.”

The new ownership doesn't have any plans for physical improvement to the property, aside from some minor maintenance items, such as painting the exterior.

The apartment complex has experienced a steady decline in sale price since the height of the residential market. In October of 2005, condo converter New York City-based Tarragon Corp. purchased it for $38 million. In late 2007, Tarragon sold it to Boston-based real estate equity firm TA Associates Realty for $14 million less.

The complex is Transwestern Investment's first in Florida for its current fund. The company previously owned apartments in Tampa and Orlando in other funds but has since sold all of those properties.

Founded in 1996, the company has acquired an interest in more than 455 office, retail, industrial and multifamily properties representing a gross investment of nearly $11 billion.