A 1,086-bed student housing building in Sweetwater traded for $168.5 million in a bond-financed deal that sets Florida International University on the path to owning the property.
Jacksonville-based nonprofit Affordable Housing Preservation Corporation, or AHPC, bought the 21-story, 293-unit Lapis at 795 Southwest 110th Avenue from Toll Brothers, according to records and real estate database Vizzda. The sale breaks down to $575,085 per unit.
Toll Brothers and its partners completed development of the building in 2023, records show. Toll Brothers and Global City Development started construction on the building in 2021 with the help of a $103 million construction loan. The Fort Washington, Pennsylvania-based builder bought the site from Global City in 2018 for $19 million.
The South Florida Business Journal reported that the selling partnership included RER Ventures.
The bond-financed sale includes a commitment by AHPC to continue running the property as housing for students, faculty and staff, and to transfer it to FIU once the bonds are paid off, according to records. Lapis is across Southwest Eighth Street/Tamiami Trail from the FIU Modesto A. Maidique Campus.
As part of the deal, AHPC financed the purchase with nearly $193.9 million raised through bonds issued by the Wisconsin-based Public Finance Authority, with UMB Bank serving as the bond trustee, records show. Most of the bonds issued are tax exempt, except a $4.8 million tranche, with records showing the total bond financing package is capped at $250 million.
AHPC separately has applied to Miami-Dade County for property tax exemptions, signing a payment-in-lieu of taxes agreement with the city of Sweetwater to compensate for lost property tax revenue. The payments start at $350,000 in 2028, increase to $360,000 in 2029 and steadily tick up through 2066 for a total of $31.2 million, the agreement shows.
South Florida market-rate multifamily has struggled over the past three years due to hefty completions, with leasing finally surpassing deliveries in the time period from late last year to early this year, CoStar Group data shows. Yet, student housing has been spared a hit due to ensured demand from university students and is a favored property type.
Developers have jumped on building the asset class, with projects popping up near FIU and the University of Miami. In February, Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Provident Resources Group paid $22.5 million for a 1.3-acre assemblage near FIU in Sweetwater that previously was tied up in litigation, and jumpstarted the project with a $241.2 million tax-exempt student housing bond and a $10 million loan. The property is entitled for a 20-story, 205-unit building.
Near UM, Treo Group snapped up a $132 million refinancing for its Vox I and Vox II student housing complex with 262 units and 726 beds. The development is in South Miami, near the city’s Metrorail station.
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