Eduardo Sanclemente didn’t have to go far to buy a large portion of Serenity Lake, a garden-style community in Tampa, Florida.
Sanclemente’s Ambrus Asset Management owns Montierra Apartments, the apartment community next to Serenity Lake. When his firm was working to make repairs earlier this year, he decided to keep access open between the two assets.
“We were doing a new fence that got completely pummeled by the hurricanes last year, we thought maybe we should wait to do the fence and put a door in this area that connects straight to Serenity Lake,” Sanclemente, president of Ambrus, told Multifamily Dive. “Then a couple of weeks later, the sellers called me and said ‘we're interested in reopening negotiations.’”
The purchase of Serenity Lake in late July wasn’t a conventional deal, but it was one that Sanclemente had experience with. Ambrus was founded in 2008, specializing in the purchase of distressed residential properties. In 2009, Ambrus bought its first asset — a 219-unit fractured condo deal.
Serenity Lake consists of two sections — an apartment complex and a condominium property. Ambrus was able to secure all but 12 condo units in the transaction. “Our plan is to hopefully buy the remaining 12 units,” Sanclemente said. “Our plan is to offer them fair market value and offer them a bit of liquidity.”
Berkadia arranged the $28.5 million loan for the acquisition of 248 out of 260 units at Serenity Lake, according to a news release shared with Multifamily Dive. Ladder Capital provided the loan, which consists of $23.25 million in initial funding, $4.1 million for capital expenditures and $1.185 million for the purchase and renovation of the remaining condo units.
“The main thing that the lenders look at is basically what you've done with the properties in a certain amount of time,” Sanclemente said. “We were able to show that we built a pretty incredible track record here in Tampa over the last eight years in driving NOI and exiting the investment cycle through refinancing, not selling. We always like to keep cash-flowing properties and exit with a higher valuation.”
Upgrade plans
With the purchase of Serenity Lake, Ambrus gains significant economies of scale. Not only is Montierra Apartments located next door, but the firm also has two other properties within a 2-mile radius.
Serenity Lake, built in 1974 and situated on 15.58 acres, consists of 16 two-story, concrete-block buildings and a single-story clubhouse and leasing office. Its one- and two-bedroom units offer patios and balconies and large closets, according to Sanclemente.
Ambrus plans to implement a property-wide renovation and repositioning at Serenity Lake through its in-house construction platform. “Our plan is to do improvements on all the units, like vinyl wood floors,” Sanclemente said. “This asset, as opposed to the other ones that I have, has in-unit washers and dryers. That also drives a lot of the price increases that we can make.”
Community amenities include two swimming pools with sundecks, a fitness center, a business center, a bark park, a gazebo and picnic area, grilling areas and a fishing dock.
Serenity Lake is situated within the University submarket of Tampa and is located within minutes of multiple employers, including Veterans Hospital, AdventHealth Hospital, Moffitt Cancer Center, PepsiCo, Yuengling Brewery and Busch Gardens, according to the news release.
“It is right next to the hospitals and the University of South Florida, which is a huge employer in the area,” Sanclemente said. “So we expect that to have a very positive effect on our unit improvements.”
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