Advenir has acquired Bell Lighthouse Point, a 249-unit apartment building in Pompano Beach, for $60.9 million. The purchase comes during a period of increased multifamily investment sales in South Florida.
The property, located at 4611 North Federal Highway, was sold by Bell Partners, a firm based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Advenir assumed the seller’s outstanding loan balance of $37.6 million and amended it to a $53.3 million Freddie Mac loan, according to records and real estate database Vizzda.
Bell Lighthouse Point was completed in 2015 on a 5.3-acre site and offers one- to three-bedroom apartments. The sale price translates to about $244,578 per unit.
Bell Partners had purchased the building for $58.5 million in 2019. The company is led by Lili F. Dunn.
Advenir is led by Stephen L. Vecchitto and David Vecchitto and operates as a developer, investor, and manager of multifamily and single-family rentals. Since its founding in 1996, Advenir has owned and managed more than 30,000 units with a current portfolio valued at $2.9 billion.
This acquisition follows Advenir’s recent sale of Palm Beach Gardens Apartments for $117.9 million to West Shore.
South Florida’s multifamily market has slowed compared with previous years when there was strong demand from out-of-state residents leading to record rent growth and rapid leasing activity. Developers responded by launching new projects that delivered a record number of units last year—18,600—which exceeded the net new leases signed (15,000), according to CoStar Group data (https://www.costar.com/). This surplus has resulted in slower lease-ups for new properties and an increase in concessions such as move-in specials; at Bell Lighthouse Point, prospective tenants could receive a $99 move-in special.
Despite elevated interest rates impacting financing options, investment sales have increased over the past year as buyers often assume existing debt or utilize loans from Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae as well as insurance companies.
Bell Partners’ sale of the Pompano Beach property is their second disposition in South Florida within two months; last month they sold Bell at Broken Sound Apartments in Boca Raton for $124.5 million to Tishman Speyer.
Other notable transactions this month include Pantzer Properties purchasing an eight-story apartment building with 393 units in Miramar for $161 million and Morgan Properties acquiring Visions at Willow Pond with 300 units for $70 million.
