Tampa student housing community owner obtains nearly $100M loan

The owners of a recently completed student housing community near the University of Tampa have taken out a $97.45 million loan on the property.

The community, Apella on Newport, is at 311 N. Newport Ave. just off of N. Willow Avenue and W. Kennedy Boulevard. It backs up to Naimoli Family Stadium, the on-campus ballpark.

The 576-bed complex has two-, three-, four- and six-bedroom furnished units spread out across 150 apartments with a total of 195,076 square feet of rentable space. Amenities include a rooftop pool, a fitness center, study lounges and a secured garage parking.

Work was completed and the building opened late last year.

The borrower, according to a statement, is the building's owner, Commercial Street Partners. The financing is a three-year, floating-rate loan through the alternative investment manager MF1/Limekiln Real Estate Investment Management.

Commercial Street is a partnership between Rochester, New York-based Christa Construction and a development firm named Shortino Enterprises.

It paid $11.5 million for the then-vacant 1.82-acre property in 2022, according to Hillsborough County property records.

JLL Capital Markets, which arranged the financing and announced the loan, says Commercial Street is a student housing developer with more than 2,750 beds developed, representing more than $375 million in value.

JLL’s Lee Weaver, Melissa Marcolini Quinn, Rob Rothaug and Jade Starkey represented Commercial Street.