Friday, December 30, 2016

Passco Companies Acquires Class A 282-Unit Luxury Multifamily Community in Florida for $50.25 Million


Marisol at Viera Apartments, 2439 Casona Lane, Viera, FL

 MELBOURNE, FL – Passco Companies has acquired Marisol at Viera, a 282-unit Class A luxury multifamily asset in Melbourne, Florida for $50.25 million.

 The apartment community is located within Viera, a high-end 22,000-acre master planned community on the east coast of Florida that features a variety of high quality retail, restaurants, office space and residential options.

Colin Gillis
“Marisol at Viera is the best located and most luxurious multifamily property in the entire Melbourne MSA,” says Colin Gillis, Vice President of Southeast Acquisitions at Passco Companies.

 “This is Passco’s first acquisition on the Space Coast, and we are especially excited as the market is a top performer in the state of Florida, with YTD rent growth leading the state with nearly 10%, according to MPF. 

"This is more than double the national average.  Additionally, occupancy rates across the submarket are well into the high 90’s with only one multifamily project in the development pipeline.”   

The region is often referred to as the “Space Coast” based on its close ties to NASA and the growing high-tech and aerospace industries. 

Situated between Port Canaveral to the northeast and Melbourne to the south, the area has the largest concentration of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) jobs in all of Florida.

The Space Coast has seen tremendous job growth over the last few years, as several key employers in the aeronautics, private space programs, and defense sectors have landed numerous multimillion dollar contracts and announced exciting and innovative projects. 

Gary Goodman
Employers including Harris Corporation, Northrop Grumman, Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Lockheed Martin have been rapidly expanding, hiring highly-skilled workers at very impressive wage levels. 

“The influx of well-paying jobs has given a tremendous boost to the already strong rental market and has created a very impressive demographic profile at the property, with average resident incomes exceeding $100,000,” says Gillis.  

“Home values and schools in Viera are also exceptional, which will assist in maintaining long-term value.  Additionally, Viera is the county seat of Brevard County, which provides a very stable local government employment base.”

The property reached 96% occupancy in seven months, often with months exceeding 40 leases, which is one of the most impressive lease ups the firm has ever seen, according to Gillis.

     “This demonstrates remarkable pent up demand in the area for a luxury multifamily product,” he says. “The property leased up with no concessions at an average rental rate of $1,400 / $1.44, which far exceeds the rental rates many of the new Class “A” suburban apartment developments in the greater Orlando area, just 45 minutes west of Melbourne.”         

Jay Ballard
       The core asset is directly adjacent to The Avenues Viera, a Cousins-built 600,000 square feet, Class “A” outdoor lifestyle center featuring a mix of premier national retailers and dining options. 

“The Avenues is the premier retail destination for the entire area,” says Gillis. “Marisol benefits tremendously from the drive-by traffic that is created by the shopping center.”

Marisol at Viera features exceptionally designed interiors and a best-in-class amenity package including two poolside bars and outdoor kitchens, a private club and amenities deck, a clubroom and TV lounge, a 6,500 square-foot dog park with outdoor grooming station, and electric car charging stations, among many other amenities.

“Ultimately, this acquisition represents the high quality assets we seek to acquire and our continued expansion in growing markets across the Southeast,” adds Gillis.

Marisol at Viera is Passco’s third acquisition in Florida this year, bringing the firm’s total multifamily acquisitions for 2016 to over $500 million, a benchmark the firm has reached for the first time since its inception. 

According to the firm’s Senior Vice President of Acquisitions, Gary Goodman, “This is our biggest year yet in terms of acquisitions.  We doubled what we acquired in 2015, and plan to continue this momentum into 2017. We are currently on track to do approximately $1 Billion in acquisitions next year.”

            The property is located at 2439 Casona Lane in Viera, Florida. The seller, Pollack Shores, and the buyer were represented by Ken Delvillar and Jay Ballard at Cushman & Wakefield. Chris Black of KeyBank Real Estate Capital’s Commercial Mortgage Group arranged acquisition financing for Passco Companies through Fannie Mae.


For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Lexi Astfalk/ Jenn Quader
Brower, Miller & Cole
(949) 955-7940