AvalonBay Communities has acquired a 270-unit apartment complex in Coconut Creek for $98.3 million, reflecting increased activity in South Florida’s multifamily investment market.
The Arlington, Virginia-based company purchased the property at 5401 Wiles Road from an entity connected to Bainbridge Companies and Rockwood Capital. Public records and the real estate database Vizzda indicate the transaction values each unit at nearly $364,000.
Following the sale, the garden-style development—previously known as Solaire at Coconut Creek—was renamed Avalon Coconut Creek. The property consists of 12 three-story apartment buildings along with amenities such as a clubhouse, gym, and pool on a 15.2-acre site. Apartments range from one to three bedrooms, with rents listed between $2,200 and $3,100 per month.
Bainbridge and Rockwood’s partnership acquired the property for $69 million in 2022. Bainbridge is led by Richard Schechter. Rockwood’s managing partners are David I. Becker and Tyson E. Skillings; the firm maintains offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York.
AvalonBay Communities is headed by Benjamin W. Schall and is a real estate investment trust focused on multifamily housing. According to its website, it owned close to 95,000 apartments nationwide as of the end of the first quarter of this year.
AvalonBay has made only occasional investments or developments in South Florida previously. In 2021 it bought Avalon Miramar—a 380-unit complex—for $133 million in Miramar. Last September it also acquired a nine-acre site in Lake Worth Beach for $16.5 million with plans for a seven-story building called Northlake Promenade Apartments near Publix at 374 Northlake Boulevard.
Recent months have seen some recovery in South Florida’s multifamily investment sales after two years of slower activity caused by higher interest rates, stricter lending standards, and softer rental demand compared to earlier periods of high volume. Most buyers have been using all cash or relying on loans from Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae because those offer more favorable terms than traditional bank financing.
Records show that AvalonBay did not record a mortgage for this latest purchase in Coconut Creek.
Other significant transactions have also closed without recorded mortgages: Crow Holdings recently paid $97.5 million for the 376-unit “33 West” property in Davie under similar circumstances.
In addition to cash purchases, some buyers are using stock buyouts to complete deals; earlier this month Favo Capital bought Hollywood’s “1818 Park”—a 22-story tower with 277 units—for $190 million through an all-stock transaction including assumption of liabilities.
